Pope Francis
Humble beginnings to the world leader
(Video Timeline)
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Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born from Italian immigrant parents in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, in 1936, the eldest of five children. He attended a Catholic primary school, then graduated from a commercial high school with a chemical technical diploma, which works in a food laboratory.
At the age of 21, he had endured such serious pneumonia that she threatened his life and suffered cysts on a lung … inciting surgery to eliminate part of one of his lungs. This would affect the rest of his life, even in his last days.
At 22, he was inspired to study in an Argentinian seminar and three years later, he went to Chile to study further. At 24, he officially took action to become a Jesuit in Argentina, and he was Ordained a priest in 1969At 33, and in 1973, he took his final wishes as a Jesuit.
He reached the rank of Roman Catholic Cardinal in 2001, appointed by the Pope John Paul IIAnd was increasingly involved in the political offices of the Church, while maintaining a reputation for questions of social justice and a simple lifestyle.
When John Paul II died in 2005, Bergoglio was one of the cardinals in the running to be selected as a new Pope, but the Pope elected Pope Benoît XVI. Benoît resigned from the papacy due to health problems in February 2013. He was the first pope to resign voluntarily since 1415.
In March 2013, and Bergoglio was elected Pope on the second day of the conclave, and took the name of Francis, in honor of Saint Francis d'Assise … mainly because of the work of the saint with the poor. He was the first pope to take the name of Francis.
Bergoglio was also the first Pope in Latin America and the first Jesuit. He chose not to live in the papal residence at the Vatican, rather opting for a guest house.
He spoke Spanish, Italian, German, English, French, Portuguese, and of course, Latin.
Francis died Monday, April 21, 2025 Easter in his Vatican residence. He had bronchitis for weeks, causing pneumonia in both lungs. He suffered a stroke, which led to a coma and cardiac arrest. He was 88 years old.
RIP
