Pope Francis

About Pope Francis

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires in 1936, the son of Italian immigrants, and worked as a chemical technician before joining the Society of Jesus. As archbishop of the Argentine capital he turned down the episcopal palace, lived in a small flat and took the subway.

Elected in March 2013, he was the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit and the first to take the name Francis — chosen, he said, so he would not forget the poor. He governed under that sign: he asked for a poor Church for the poor, a Church that goes out, and insisted that nobody be turned away at the door. He wrote Laudato Si', the first encyclical devoted entirely to care for creation, and Fratelli Tutti, on fraternity between peoples.

His most quoted lines are short and direct: the Church as a field hospital, the culture of encounter, his rejection of a faith that judges more than it welcomes. He died in 2025, after twelve years as pope.

A message from Pope Francis is sent to those with a personal devotion to him, at confirmations, birthdays and dates tied to the life of a parish.

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