Pope Francis

Pope Francis

Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio;[b] 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's provincial superior of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina. The administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him a political rival. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Throughout his public life, Pope Francis has been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, international visibility as pope, concern for the poor and commitment to interfaith dialogue. He is credited with having a less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by previous popes. He maintains that the Church should be more open and welcoming. He does not support unbridled capitalism, Marxism, or Marxist versions of liberation theology. Francis maintains the traditional views of the Church regarding abortion, marriage, ordination of women, and clerical celibacy. He opposes consumerism and overdevelopment, and supports taking action on climate change, a focus of his papacy with the promulgation of Laudato si'. In international diplomacy, he helped to temporarily restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba and supported the cause of refugees during the European and Central American migrant crises. Since 2018, he has been a vocal opponent of neo-nationalism. Francis has faced increasingly open criticism, particularly from theological conservatives, on many questions, including the admission of civilly divorced and remarried Catholics to Communion with the publication of Amoris laetitia and on the question of the alleged cover-up of clergy sexual abuse, against which he promulgated Vos estis lux mundi.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on 17 December 1936[2] in Flores,[3] a neighborhood of Buenos Aires.[2] He was the eldest[4] of five children of Mario José Bergoglio (1908–1959) and Regina María Sívori (1911–1981). Mario Bergoglio was an Italian immigrant accountant[5] born in Portacomaro (Province of Asti) in Italy's Piedmont region. Regina Sívori[6] was a housewife born in Buenos Aires to a family of northern Italian (Piedmontese-Genoese) origin.[7][8][9] Mario José's family left Italy in 1929 to escape the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini.[10] According to María Elena Bergoglio (b. 7 February 1948), the Pope's only living sibling, they did not emigrate for economic reasons.[11] His other siblings were Alberto Horacio (17 July 1942 – 15 June 2010), Oscar Adrián (30 January 1938-deceased) and Marta Regina (24 August 1940 – 11 July 2007).[12][13] Two great-nephews, Antonio and Joseph, died in a traffic collision.[14][15] His niece, Cristina Bergoglio, is a painter based in Madrid, Spain.[16][17]

In the sixth grade, Bergoglio attended Wilfrid Barón de los Santos Ángeles, a school of the Salesians of Don Bosco, in Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires. He attended the technical secondary school Escuela Técnica Industrial N° 27 Hipólito Yrigoyen,[18] named after a past President of Argentina, and graduated with a Chemical Technician's Diploma[2][19][20] (not a master's degree in Chemistry, as some media outlets incorrectly reported).[21][22] In that capacity, he spent several years working in the foods section of Hickethier-Bachmann Laboratory[23] where his boss was Esther Ballestrino. Prior to working as a chemical technician, Bergoglio had also worked as a bar bouncer and as a janitor sweeping floors.[24][25]