Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936 to an Italian immigrant father and Argentinean mother. His father, Mario, was an accountant for the railroad company, and his mother dedicated herself to raising their four children.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a chemical technician before choosing the path of priesthood. He was ordained in 1969 by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano.
Bergoglio is the first Jesuit Pope, a profession that he made when he was 37 years old and shortly after he was appointed Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina, an office he held for six years.
Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires wanted him as a close collaborator. In 1992, Pope John Paul II ordained Bergoglio Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary of Buenos Aires. When Cardinal Quarracino died in 1998, Bergoglio succeeded him as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
In 2001, he was appointed General Relator to the 10th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops replacing Cardinal Edward Michael Egan, Archbishop of New York, who had to stay in the U.S. after terrorist attacks on September 11.
Besides his important positions he held at the Argentinean clergy, he preferred to be called Father Bergoglio. He rejected a car with a driver, used the public transportation and rejected the Archdiocese residence as well.
He declined to be appointed as President of the Argentine Bishops in 2002, but three years later was elected nonetheless. In 2005, he took part in the Conclave in which Pope Benedict XVI was elected.
On Dec. 17, 2011, on his 75 birthday, the age that bishops have to retire according to the canonic law, Bergoglio sent his resignation letter to the Vatican. However, while he was awaiting a response, from Pope Benedict XVI resigned. This required Bergoglio to travel to Rome for a Papal election. The media wasn’t expecting Bergoglio to be the candidate because of his age.
On March 13, 2013, Bergoglio was elected 266th bishop of Rome after two days of deliberation of the Conclave. He took the name Francesco after Saint Francis of Assisi — a symbol of poverty, simplicity and austerity.
Francis became the first non European pope since the creation of the Papal States, the first Latin American, the first Jesuit and the first to be called Francis.
About the Author
