Pope Francis focused his papacy on the poor and needy.

Despite being labeled a Democratic “heretic” by the media for his pro-life stand and his support for traditional marriage, former Congressman Dan Lipinski told a Washington conference he never backed down from “what I knew was true.”

In interviews focused on the 10th anniversary of his election, Pope Francis insisted it is not his task to make an accounting of what he has or has not accomplished since March 13, 2013.

The pope reflected on the day’s reading from the Gospel of John (4:5-42), in which Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well at midday.

In documents issued his first 10 years in office, Pope Francis covered topics as diverse as strengthening one’s faith, evangelization, caring for creation, accompanying families and young people, and respecting indigenous peoples.

When Pope Francis greeted the thousands of faithful gathered in a rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square March 13, 2013, he quipped that his brother cardinals looked almost to “the ends of the earth” to find a new bishop of Rome.

Pope Francis’ call for the church to serve those on the peripheries should prompt American Catholics to reimagine their role in U.S. public life, Catholics in politics or public life told OSV News shortly before the pontiff’s 10th anniversary as pope.

A timeline of some significant events in Pope Francis’ pontificate

For a decade, even when discussing the internal workings of the Vatican, Pope Francis has insisted the church is not the church of Christ if it does not reach out, sharing the “joy of the Gospel” and placing the poor at the center of its attention.

From the beginning of his pontificate 10 years ago, Pope Francis set out to reform the structure and attitudes of the Roman Curia and knew he also had to reform the Vatican’s financial system and stewardship of resources.