Francesco Sforza, who served as the Vatican's chief photographer for nearly five decades, has officially retired after 48 years of dedicated service to the Holy See. Paolo Ruffini, head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication, honored Sforza in a tribute published over the weekend, praising him as a man who "transformed the camera into a tool of communion."

In his written commendation, Ruffini expressed gratitude to the photographer for showing the world the beauty of the Church through his lens. The prefect described Sforza as having been "the eye of the popes and the eye of God's people" throughout his distinguished career. This recognition highlights the crucial role Sforza played in documenting and sharing the Church's most significant moments with the global Catholic community.

Sforza began his Vatican career in 1977 under Pope Paul VI as an assistant photographer, working alongside the legendary Arturo Mari, who had been serving as papal photographer since 1956. When Mari retired in 2007 during Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate, Sforza was promoted to the position of First Photographer of His Holiness, taking on the primary responsibility for documenting papal activities and encounters.

Throughout his career, Sforza photographed virtually every meeting and encounter involving Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, as well as Pope Leo, capturing moments with both prominent figures and ordinary people from around the world. The only exceptions were during his vacation days and periods of illness, demonstrating his remarkable dedication to his role. His photographs were distributed hundreds of thousands of times through the photographic service of the Vatican newspaper "L'Osservatore Romano," making his work accessible to media outlets and Catholic communities worldwide.

While Sforza's 48-year career was extraordinarily long, he fell just three years short of matching the professional record set by his predecessor Mari, who photographed popes from Pius XII to Benedict XVI over a span of 51 years. This near-record achievement underscores the continuity and excellence of Vatican photography services across multiple pontificates.

During Pope Francis's pontificate, which began in 2013, Sforza played a particularly important role in capturing the Pope's compassionate outreach to marginalized communities. He documented with special sensitivity and intensity the Pope's encounters with prisoners, refugees, and other people on the margins of society, reflecting the Latin American Pope's pastoral priorities. These powerful images significantly contributed to shaping the public perception of Pope Francis's pontificate and his emphasis on mercy and social justice.

Reflecting on his craft, Sforza once described the essence of photography as an art form that requires a photographer to invest "his hands, his eyes, and above all his heart" into the work. This philosophy guided his approach throughout his career, resulting in images that captured not just the visual aspects of papal events but also their spiritual and emotional dimensions, helping to convey the deeper meaning of the Church's mission to audiences around the world.