Welcome to a special celebration at Fordham University in New York, where participants are joining millions around the world in honoring Pope Francis on the 12th anniversary of his pontificate.
By Vatican News
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Kerry Robinson of Catholic Charities USA, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, and Franciscan Father Michael Perry are among the many individuals expressing their love, appreciation, and well wishes to Pope Francis as he marks this milestone from an ecclesial gathering in New York.
This anniversary, on March 13, 2025, falls at a time when the Holy Father is recovering from bilateral pneumonia at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
Messages have been pouring in from people of all backgrounds, believers and non-believers alike, thanking Pope Francis for his inspiration and guidance over the past 12 years and wishing him a speedy recovery and continued good health.
Among the well-wishers are the organizers and participants of “The Way Forward 2025, An Ecclesial Gathering,” hosted at Fordham University, a renowned Jesuit research institution in New York City. This year, the annual event centers on the theme Fratelli tutti: Cultivating the Politics of Communion and Compassion.
The two-day forum, presented in partnership with Boston College’s Boisi Center, Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture, Sacred Heart University, and Loyola’s Hank Center, provides a platform for bishops, academics, journalists, and Catholic leaders to come together and engage in discussions on pressing issues facing the Church today, all through the synodal lens advocated by Pope Francis.
