Although the total was slightly higher from the 3.2 million visitors received by Pope Francis in 2015, for a jubilee year it still fell short of the 5.9 million pilgrims who visited in 2014.

The imbalance in the world, one Jesuit expert has said, reflects how years of papal pleas and Vatican mandates have not been received or implemented consistently everywhere.

Though he turned 80 a couple of weeks ago, Pope Francis did not slow down in 2016.

In an unexpected diplomatic initiative to consolidate the fragile peace accord in Colombia, Pope Francis on Dec. 14 brought together the country's president, Juan Manuel Santos, and his archrival, former president Senator Álvaro Uribe, a strong opponent of the accord.

Moving quickly to strengthen the Section for Refugees and Migrants in the new Vatican department for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, Pope Francis has appointed as under secretaries a Canadian Jesuit, Michael Czerny, and an Italian member of the Scalabrini Fathers, Fabio Baggio. The Vati

As the head of the Archdiocese of Brisbane on the east coast of Australia, the archbishop was a delegate to the meeting of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 2015.