Pope Francis has been serving as the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church since March 2013 until 21st April 2025 when he rested. He was the first pope from the Americas, Francis took his papal title after Saint Francis of Assisi of Italy.
Prior to his election as pope, he spent more than a decade as cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church of Argentina and archbishop of Buenos Aires. Francis was also president of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina from 2005 to 2011.
Named Person of the Year by Time magazine in 2013, Pope Francis’ tenure has been characterized by humility and outspoken support of the world’s poor and marginalized people. He has also advocated in areas of political diplomacy and for environmentalism.
Early Life and Education
Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936. His parents, Mario and Regina, were Italian immigrants.
As a young man, Bergoglio underwent surgery to remove part of one of his lungs due to a serious infection. He graduated from a technical school as a chemical technician before beginning training at the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto. In March 1958, he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus.
Bergoglio taught literature and psychology at Immaculate Conception College in the Argentinian province of Santa Fé in 1964 and 1965. The next year, he taught the same subjects at the Colegio del Salvatore in Buenos Aires. He studied theology and received a degree from the Colegio of San José from 1967 to 1970, and finished his doctoral thesis in theology in Freiburg, Germany, in 1986.
His Priesthood
Pope Francis has been a Roman Catholic priest since he was in his early 30s. Ordained as a priest in December 1969, Bergoglio began serving as Jesuit provincial of Argentina in 1973. He has said that initially, his mother didn’t support his decision to enter the priesthood despite the fact that she was a devout Catholic.
By the time he was ordained, however, she accepted his calling and asked for his blessing at the end of his ordination ceremony. He later returned to the Colegio of San José, his alma mater, where he served as rector from 1980 to 1986 as well as a professor of theology.
On May 20, 1992, Bergoglio was named titular bishop of Auca and auxiliary of Buenos Aires; he was ordained into that post a week later. In February 1998, he became archbishop of Buenos Aires, succeeding Antonio Quarracino.
Three years later, in February 2001, he was elevated to cardinal by Pope John Paul II and named the cardinal-priest of Saint Robert Bellarmino. He served as president of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina from 2005 until 2011.
After Pope John Paul II’s death in April 2005, Bergoglio reportedly received the second-most votes in the 2005 papal conclave. However, Pope Benedict XVI was chosen as Pope John Paul’s successor.
Becoming Pope
On March 13, 2013, at the age of 76, Bergoglio was named the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The new pontiff adopted the name Pope Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi of Italy.
He is the first citizen from the Americas, the first non-European, and the first Jesuit priest to be named pope. Prior to the 2013 papal conclave, Pope Francis had served as both cardinal and archbishop for more than 12 years.
The tone of his papacy, which has become admired globally, was established long before his elevation to the church’s highest position; however, when he was named to that post, the media quickly picked up on stories of his humility.
News circulated about the fact that he returned to the boarding house where he had been staying to pay his bill personally, rather than send an assistant, and that he would choose to live in a simple two-room apartment rather than the luxurious papal accommodations in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. In choosing to live more simply, Pope Francis broke a tradition that had been upheld by popes for more than a century.
Addressing a crowd of tens of thousands in Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican City after his selection by the conclave, Pope Francis stated: “As you know, the duty of the conclave was to appoint a bishop of Rome. It seems to me that my brother cardinals have chosen one who is from faraway… Here I am. I would like to thank you for your embrace.”
