An important part of Pope Francis’ legacy will be his support for refugees and migrants and his advocacy for ending conflicts over his decade-long papal tenure.

The Pope, who died on April 21 at the age of 88, often clashed with world leaders who excluded refugees and asylum seekers from their countries.

His papacy corresponded with an explosion in global migration, generated by an ever-increasing number of conflicts.

When he was elected as the Catholic Church’s first Latin American pope in 2013, 51.2 million people were forcibly displaced. This year, the number of displaced people has risen to more than 123 million.

The Pope had personal experience of migration; he was born to Italian immigrants in Argentina and referenced his family’s experiences when advocating compassionate approaches to migrants.

The Pope’s commitment to protecting refugees and migrants extended beyond his rhetoric. Many of his foreign visits included time spent with refugees fleeing their homelands.

In 2016, he visited the island of Lesbos in Greece, where asylum seeker families had congregated on journeys from Africa or the Middle East towards Europe

The Pope told the displaced families: “You are not alone”, and he took 12 refugees, including six children, back to Rome with him.

Around five million refugees reached Europe by the end of 2016, fleeing persecution in war-torn countries including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pope Francis implored encouraged European leaders to do more to help refugees making risky journeys across the Mediterranean.

“It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help,” he told a meeting of German faithful at the Vatican in October 2016.

The Pope’s first official trip, just a few months into his papacy, was to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, where thousands of refugees were living in camps.

He used the visit to highlight some of the world’s most excluded and abused people.

Holding a mass to mourn the many people who had died trying to get to Lampedusa, he said: “Let us ask the Lord for the grace to weep over our indifference, to weep over the cruelty of our world, of our own hearts. Has anyone wept? Today, has anyone wept in our world?”

Fittingly, he gave the homily at alter that sat in the prow of a refugee boat.

In recent years, the Pope has been critical of US migration policy, especially the deportation and border closure policies of President Trump

The day before he died, Pope Francis met with US Vice President JD Vance and used his Easter blessing to advocate for kindness toward migrants and refugees.

He encouraged Catholics to be welcoming to people “who come from distant lands” in his Easter blessing.

“How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants!” he said.

“On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!”

In 2016, Francis called anyone who supports building walls “not Christian” during a visit to Mexico near the US border.

President Trump responded with a bizarre statement saying that when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, they would have wished that Trump had been president.

More recently, in February, the Pope criticised Vance’s use of church doctrine to rationalise the Trump administration’s treatment of immigrants.

Tributes have poured in from leaders across the world, including Trump’s predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

President Biden called Pope Francis “one of the most consequential leaders of our time” and President Obama described him as a “rare leader who made us want to be better people”.

This year, a day before Trump was inaugurated for his second term, Pope Francis derided his plan to carry out mass deportations.

“If it is true, it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill for the imbalance. It won’t do. This is not the way to solve things,” he said.

Then, in February, the Vatican released the text of a letter Pope Francis to US bishops, largely about their work helping migrants.

“I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations,” the Pope wrote.

“The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality,” the letter said.

NGO’s have also recognised the Pope’s advocacy for refugees and migrants.

Anna Gallagher, the executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, a Catholic group that promotes immigration programs, said Pope Francis’ leadership had been inspirational.

“His leadership and love for the marginalised have inspired us and countless others to further the Gospel by living out our calling to serve ‘the least of these’ with compassion and unwavering dedication,” she said.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, released a statement describing Pope Francis as a “compassionate and courageous moral leader”.

“Pope Francis was a tireless advocate for the rights and dignity of refugees, migrants and the forcibly displaced worldwide. He stood up and spoke out continuously and relentlessly for the victims of war and for those forced to flee their homes.

“He drew the world’s attention to the human tragedies unfolding at Europe’s borders and those further away – emphasizing our shared responsibility in protecting the lives of those forced to flee.

“Hearing from refugees firsthand in Lampedusa, Greece, Cyprus and beyond, he made a powerful call to the international community not to turn their back on those forced to flee.

“Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis used his unique moral authority to call on governments and the wider international community to welcome, protect, promote, and integrate refugees into society – especially at a time when their desperate plight is too often met by barriers, rejection and fear. He also engaged in favour of the environment and nature.

“His unwavering solidarity with displaced people, his commitment towards global peace, his engagement for humanitarian causes and his call for dialogue to resolve conflict and build solidarity inspired action, compassion, and a deeper sense of shared humanity. He was strongly committed to peace everywhere – from the Middle East to Colombia, to Ukraine, the Central African Republic, to Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar, he spoke for peace, reconciliation and dignity,” UNHCR said.