Papal travel outside Rome has been historically rare, and voluntary travel of the pope was non-existent for the first 500 years of the Papacy. Pope John Paul II (1978–2005) undertook more pastoral trips than all his predecessors combined. Pope Francis (2013–2025), Pope Paul VI (1963–1978) and Pope Benedict XVI (2005–2013) also travelled globally, the latter to a lesser extent due to his advanced age. The current pope, Leo XIV, has traveled internationally as well.
Popes resided outside Rome—primarily in Viterbo, Orvieto, and Perugia—during the 13th century, and then moved to France during the Avignon Papacy (1309–1378). Pope Vigilius (537–555) in 547, Pope Agatho (678–681) in 680, and Pope Constantine in 710 visited Constantinople, whereas Pope Martin I (649–655) was abducted there for trial in 653. Pope Stephen II (752–757) became the first pope to cross the Alps in 752 to crown Pepin the Short; Pope Pius VII repeated the feat over a millennium later for the coronation of Napoleon.
Travel before the Second Vatican Council Outside Rome, within Italy
Pope Clement I was exiled to Chersonesos Taurica by Roman emperor Trajan and then martyred into the Black Sea, according to apocryphal accounts circa 99. Pope Pontian (230–235) died in exile in Sardinia, but resigned his pontificate before leaving the city. Pope Cornelius (251–253) died after a year of exile in Civitavecchia, 80 km from Rome. Pope Liberius (352–366) was the first pope to get far from the city as pope when he was exiled to Beroea in Thrace by Roman Emperor Constantius II.von Hefele, Karl Joseph and William Robinson Clark. 1876. A history of the Christian councils: from the original documents. p. 231. Pope John I (523–526) became the first pope to travel willingly outside Rome when he sailed for Constantinople in 523.
Pope Clement II (1046–1047) was the first pope consecrated outside Rome.Lightfoot, Joseph Barber 1890. The Apostolic Fathers. p. 98. Pope Urban II (1088–1099) became the first pope to travel extensively outside Rome. Elected in Terracina, Urban II held synods in Amalfi, Benevento, and Troia. He preached the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont (1095) in Clermont-Ferrand. Prior to this, Pope Leo IX (1049–1054) had been the last pope to cross the Alps for 50 years.France, France 2005. The Crusades and the expansion of Catholic Christendom, 1000–1714. p. 52.
Although the cardinals have historically gathered at a handful of other locations within Rome and beyond, only six elections since 1455 have been held outside the Apostolic Palace, Twenty-eight papal elections have been held outside Rome, in: Terracina (1088), Cluny (1119), Velletri (1181), Verona (1185), Ferrara (Oct. 1187), Pisa (Dec. 1187), Perugia (1216, 1264–1265, 1285, 1292–1294, 1304–1305), Anagni (1243), Naples (1254, 1294), Viterbo (1261, 1268–1271, July 1276, Aug.–Sept. 1276, 1277, 1281–1282), Arezzo (Jan. 1276), Carpentras/Lyon (1314–1316), Avignon (1334, 1342, 1352, 1362, 1370), Konstanz (1417) and Venice (1799–1800).Baumgartner, Frederic J. (2003). ""I Will Observe Absolute and Perpetual Secrecy:" The Historical Background of the Rigid Secrecy Found in Papal Elections". Catholic Historical Review. Vol. 89, Issue 2. pp. 165–181.
Outside Italy, within Europe
Constantinople
Pope John I (523–526) in 523 (as a delegate of Theodoric the Great), Pope Vigilius (537–555) in 547 (called by Justinian I to account for his refusal to sign on to the canons of the Council of Chalcedon), Pope Agatho (678–681) in 680 (attending the Third Council of Constantinople), and Pope Constantine in 710 visited Constantinople (called by Justinian II), whereas Pope Martin I (649–653) was abducted there for trial in 653 following the Lateran Council of 649. Constantine was the last pope to visit Constantinople until Pope Paul VI in 1967.
France
Pope Stephen II (752–757) became the first pope to cross the Alps in 752 to crown Pepin the Short. This made him the first pope to visit the Frankish empire.Kleinhenz, Christopher 2004. Medieval Italy: an encyclopedia. p. 847. Pope John VIII (872–882) visited France in 878, and Pope Leo IX (1049–1054) travelled to France on September 29, 1049.Tellenbach, Gerd 1993. The Church in western Europe from the tenth to the early twelfth century. pp. 188-89. The next pope to enter France was Pope Urban II (1088–1099), who stopped at Valence and Le Puy on his way to the Council of Clermont (1095).Peters, Edward 1998. The First Crusade: the chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and other source materials. pp. 17–18
Pope Pius VII (1800–1823) was in Paris in 1804 for the Coronation of Napoleon I.Congressional Quarterly. 1962. Editorial research reports. p. 318.
Holy Roman Empire
Pope Benedict VIII (1012–1024) visited Bamberg on 14 April 1020; no pope had visited the borders of modern Germany for 150 years.Bury, John Bagnell 1922. The Cambridge Medieval History: Germany and the Western empire. p. 250. Pope Leo IX (1049–1054) also travelled through the modern borders of Germany.Edwards, David Lawrence 1997. Christianity: the first two thousand years. p. 197. Probably the last papal visit to the Holy Roman Empire was in 1782, when Pope Pius VI visited Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, in Vienna, and Munich in Bavaria.
Travel since the 1960s Pope Paul VI (1963–1978) became the first pope to leave Europe; no pope ever left Europe before the Second Vatican Council.Tomkins, Stephen A short history of Christianity 234 (2006).Pham, John-Peter Heirs of the Fisherman: behind the scenes of papal death and succession 95, 126 (2004). He was the first to travel by airplane as pope, the first to leave Italy since 1809, and the first to visit North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia as pope.Facts on File, Inc. 1969. World Almanac and Book of Facts. p. 249.The New York Times Encyclopedic Almanac. 1969. p. 440.
Pope John Paul II travelled more often as pope than all his predecessors combined, and as a result he was seen—in person—by more people than anyone else in history.The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 9. 2003. "Pope John Paul II." p. 122.Coppa, Frank J. 2008. Politics and the papacy in the modern world. p. 10.Streissguth, Thomas 2006. Pope Benedict XVI. p. 96.Columbia Link. 2007. "."Polk, Peggy and Kevin Eckstrom. April 4, 2005. "Pope John Paul II, Leader of World's 1 Billion Roman Catholics, Is Dead at 84." He traveled ", which is the equivalent of nearly 31 trips around the planet."
Beginning with Pope Paul VI, the popes used Alitalia as their primary airline, flying on charter flights, until Alitalia went out of business in 2021; after then, Italy's ITA Airways was the main airline used by Pope Francis. Pope John Paul II instituted a tradition of returning to Rome on a flag carrier airline of the last country visited, when possible.
Table of destinations outside Italy (1964–present) The table lists the international trips outside Italy made by Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, and Pope Leo XIV.
Region Country or territory Pope and year of visit Angola 1992John Paul II 1992 Benedict XVI 2009 Leo XIV 2026 Cameroon 1985John Paul II 1985, 1995 Benedict XVI 2009 Leo XIV 2026 Central African Republic 1985John Paul II 1985 Francis 2015 Chad 1990John Paul II 1990 Congo 1980John Paul II 1980 Democratic Republic of the Congo 1980John Paul II 1980, 1985 Francis 2023 Equatorial Guinea 1982John Paul II 1982 Leo XIV 2026 Gabon 1982John Paul II 1982 São Tomé and Príncipe 1992John Paul II 1992 Burundi 1990John Paul II 1990 Kenya 1980John Paul II 1980, 1985, 1995 Francis 2015 Madagascar 1989John Paul II 1989 Francis 2019 Malawi 1989John Paul II 1989 Mauritius 1989John Paul II 1989 Francis 2019 Mozambique 1988John Paul II 1988 Francis 2019 Réunion 1989John Paul II 1989 Rwanda 1990John Paul II 1990 Seychelles 1986John Paul II 1986 South Sudan 2023Francis 2023 Tanzania 1990John Paul II 1990 Uganda 1969Paul VI 1969 John Paul II 1993 Francis 2015 Zambia 1989John Paul II 1989 Zimbabwe 1988John Paul II 1988 Algeria 2026Leo XIV 2026 Egypt 2000John Paul II 2000 Francis 2017 Morocco 1985John Paul II 1985 Francis 2019 Sudan 1993John Paul II 1993 Tunisia 1996John Paul II 1996 Botswana 1988John Paul II 1988 Eswatini 1988John Paul II 1988 Lesotho 1988John Paul II 1988 South Africa 1988John Paul II 1988, 1995 Benin 1982John Paul II 1982, 1993 Benedict XVI 2011 Burkina Faso 1980John Paul II 1980, 1990 Cape Verde 1990John Paul II 1990 1992John Paul II 1992 Ghana 1980John Paul II 1980 Guinea 1992John Paul II 1992 Guinea-Bissau 1990John Paul II 1990 Ivory Coast 1980John Paul II 1980, 1985, 1990 Mali 1990John Paul II 1990 Nigeria 1982John Paul II 1982, 1998 Senegal 1992John Paul II 1992 Togo 1985John Paul II 1985 1979John Paul II 1979 Belize 1983John Paul II 1983 Costa Rica 1983John Paul II 1983 Cuba 1998John Paul II 1998 Benedict XVI 2012 Francis 2015, 2016 Curaçao 1990John Paul II 1990 Dominican Republic 1979John Paul II 1979, 1984, 1992 El Salvador 1983John Paul II 1983, 1996 Guatemala 1983John Paul II 1983, 1996, 2002 Haiti 1983John Paul II 1983 Honduras 1983John Paul II 1983 Jamaica 1993John Paul II 1993 Mexico 1979John Paul II 1979, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2002 Benedict XVI 2012 Francis 2016 Nicaragua 1983John Paul II 1983, 1996 Panama 1983John Paul II 1983 Francis 2019 Puerto Rico 1984John Paul II 1984 Saint Lucia 1986John Paul II 1986 Trinidad and Tobago 1985John Paul II 1985 Bermuda 1968Paul VI 1968 Canada 1984John Paul II 1984, 1987, 2002 Francis 2022 United States of America 1965 Paul VI 1965 John Paul II 1979, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1993, 1995, 1999 Benedict XVI 2008 Francis 2015 Argentina 1982John Paul II 1982, 1987 Bolivia 1988John Paul II 1988 Francis 2015 Brazil 1980John Paul II 1980, 1982, 1991, 1997 Benedict XVI 2007 Francis 2013 Chile 1987John Paul II 1987 Francis 2018 Colombia 1968Paul VI 1968 John Paul II 1986 Francis 2017 Ecuador 1985John Paul II 1985 Francis 2015 Paraguay 1988John Paul II 1988 Francis 2015 Peru 1985John Paul II 1985, 1988 Francis 2018 Uruguay 1987John Paul II 1987, 1988 Venezuela 1985John Paul II 1985, 1996 Kazakhstan 2001John Paul II 2001 Francis 2022 Hong Kong 1970Paul VI 1970 Japan 1981John Paul II 1981 Francis 2019 Mongolia 2023 Francis 2023 South Korea <span