Pope Francis

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Lore & Background

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on 17 December 1936 in Flores, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, the eldest of five children of Mario José Bergoglio, an Italian immigrant accountant from Piedmont, and Regina María Sívori, a housewife born in Buenos Aires to a family of northern Italian origin. In the sixth grade, he attended a Salesian school, then graduated with a chemical technician's diploma from a technical secondary school, working in a laboratory and earlier as a bouncer and janitor. At 21, after life-threatening pneumonia and three cysts, he had part of a lung excised. Inspired by a priest while on his way to celebrate Spring Day, he studied at an archdiocesan seminary and entered the Society of Jesus as a novice on 11 March 1958. He was ordained a priest on 13 December 1969 by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano. He served as Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina from 1973 to 1979, then as rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel from 1980 to 1986. He was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992, consecrated on 27 June 1992, and became coadjutor archbishop on 3 June 1997, then metropolitan archbishop on 28 February 1998 after Cardinal Quarracino's death. As archbishop, he doubled the number of priests in shantytown slums, earning the nickname 'villero bishop,' sold the archdiocese's bank shares to enforce fiscal discipline, and was named Ordinary for Eastern Catholics in Argentina on 6 November 1998. He was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the 2013 papal conclave elected him pope on 13 March; he chose the name Francis in honor of Francis of Assisi.

Reader's Guide

Pope Francis's significance lies in his transformative approach to the papacy, emphasizing humility, mercy, and inclusivity. He resided in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than the papal apartments, wore simpler vestments, refused the traditional mozzetta cape, chose silver instead of gold for his piscatory ring, and kept the same iron pectoral cross he had as cardinal. He made women and laymen full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia, permitted non-liturgical blessings of individuals in same-sex relationships in the Latin Church, and convened the Synod on Synodality, described as the culmination of his papacy and the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council. Globally, he criticized trickle-down economics, consumerism, and overdevelopment; made action on climate change a leading focus; viewed capital punishment as inadmissible in all cases and committed the Church to its worldwide abolition; criticized right-wing populism and anti-immigration politics, calling the protection of migrants a 'duty of civilization'; and called for the decriminalization of homosexuality. In international diplomacy, he helped restore diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, negotiated a deal with China to define Communist Party influence in appointing Chinese bishops, encouraged peace between Israel and Palestinians, signed the Vatican's first treaty with Palestine, condemned Israel's military operations in Gaza, and called for investigations of war crimes. In 2022, he apologized for the Church's role in the Canadian Indian residential school system. Following a period of declining health and multiple scares, he made his last public appearance on Easter Sunday before dying on 21 April 2025, Easter Monday. The 2025 conclave elected Leo XIV as his successor on 8 May, becoming the second pope from the Americas, after Francis.

Did You Know?

• Bergoglio had part of a lung excised at age 21 after life-threatening pneumonia and three cysts.
• He worked as a bouncer and a janitor before becoming a priest.
• As a young seminarian, he had a crush on a girl and briefly doubted his religious career.
• He chose his episcopal motto 'Miserando atque eligendo' from Saint Bede's homily on Matthew 9:9–13.
• He was the first pope born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.

Argentine Roots and the Road to the Jesuits

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on 17 December 1936 in the Flores neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, the eldest of five children. His father Mario, an accountant from Piedmont, had fled Italy in 1929 to escape Mussolini's fascist rule, while his mother Regina was a Buenos Aires-born woman of northern Italian heritage. The family's emigration was driven by politics, not poverty. Young Jorge attended a Salesian school in Ramos Mejía, then earned a chemical technician's diploma and spent years working in the food division of a laboratory. At twenty-one, life-threatening pneumonia and the surgical removal of part of his lung nearly killed him. Recovering, he paused at a church for confession on his way to a celebration and felt a decisive pull toward religious life. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in March 1958, professed initial vows in 1960, earned a philosophy licentiate, and taught literature and psychology at secondary schools before his ordination as a priest in December 1969. His final Jesuit vows, including the distinctive fourth vow of obedience to the pope's missioning, were taken in April 1973 at Alcalá de Henares, Spain.

A New Face for the Papacy

When the 2013 conclave elected him on 13 March, Bergoglio became the first Jesuit to occupy the chair of Peter, the first pope from Latin America, and the first pontiff born or raised outside Europe since the eighth-century Syrian Gregory III. He chose the name Francis, honouring the saint of Assisi, as a signal of his pastoral priorities. His approach to the office itself was deliberately unorthodox. Rather than moving into the gilded apartments of the Apostolic Palace, he took up residence in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse, a decision that immediately set him apart from his predecessors. His Jesuit and Ignatian sensibility shaped every visible detail: he refused the traditional papal mozzetta cape, selected a silver piscatory ring where his predecessors wore gold, and kept the plain iron pectoral cross he had worn as a cardinal. These were not mere aesthetic preferences but a coherent statement that the papacy should be stripped of excess ornamentation and reoriented toward service. His humility, emphasis on divine mercy, and international visibility defined a pontificate that felt like a structural reset of how the Catholic Church presented itself to the world.

Mercy, Justice, and the Margins

Francis's papacy was animated by a consistent moral architecture that placed the poor, migrants, and refugees at the centre of Catholic teaching. He made women and laymen full members of the Roman Curia's dicasteries, broadening who was allowed to shape institutional decision-making. On questions of sexuality, he argued that the Church should extend greater inclusivity toward LGBTQ people and authorised non-liturgical blessings for individuals in same-sex relationships within the Latin Church, while also calling publicly for the decriminalization of homosexuality. His economic critique was equally pointed: he denounced trickle-down economics, consumerism, and what he saw as overdevelopment, and he elevated climate action to a leading priority of his pontificate. He declared capital punishment inadmissible in every circumstance and committed the Church to its global abolition. He warned against the rise of right-wing populism and anti-immigration politics, framing the protection of migrants as a duty of civilization. The Synod on Synodality, which he convened, was widely described as the culmination of his papacy and the most significant ecclesial event since the Second Vatican Council.

Diplomatic Reckonings and a Final Easter

In the realm of international diplomacy, Francis pursued a series of high-stakes engagements that repositioned the Vatican as an active mediator. He helped restore diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States and negotiated an agreement with China defining the Communist Party's role in the appointment of Chinese bishops. He signed the Vatican's first treaty with Palestine, encouraged peace between Israelis and Palestinians, condemned Israel's military operations in Gaza, and called for investigations into war crimes. In 2022, he issued a formal apology for the Catholic Church's role in the Canadian Indian residential school system. After a period of declining health and multiple medical scares, Francis made his last public appearance on Easter Sunday 2025. He died the following day, Easter Monday, on 21 April 2025. The conclave that followed elected Leo XIV on 8 May, making him the second pope from the Americas, a continuity that underscored how permanently Francis had shifted the geographic centre of the papacy.