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Francis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bishop of Rome | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
_FXD.jpg) Pope Francis in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Church | Catholic Church | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Papacy began | 13 March 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Benedict XVI | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Orders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordination | 13 December 1969 by Ramón José Castellano | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consecration | 27 June 1992 by Antonio Quarracino | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created cardinal | 21 February 2001 by John Paul II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Jorge Mario Bergoglio 17 December 1936 Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Argentine (with Vatican citizenship) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Denomination | Catholic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Domus Sanctae Marthae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motto | Miserando atque eligendo[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coat of arms |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ordination history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio;[b] 17 December 1936) is head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century papacy of the Syrian pope Gregory III.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked for a time as a bouncer and a janitor as a young man before training to be a chemist and working as a technician in a food science laboratory. After recovering from a severe illness of pneumonia and cysts, he was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. 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 to be 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 honour of Saint Francis of Assisi. Throughout his public life, Francis has been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, international visibility as pope, concern for the poor, and commitment to interreligious dialogue. He is known for 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.[2]
Francis has made women full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia.[3][4] He maintains that the Catholic Church should be more sympathetic toward members of the LGBT community, and has stated that while blessings of same-sex unions are not permitted, the individuals can be blessed, as long as the blessings are not given in a liturgical context.[5] Francis is a critic of unbridled capitalism, consumerism, and overdevelopment;[6] he has made action on climate change a leading focus of his papacy.[7] Widely interpreted as denouncing the death penalty as intrinsically evil,[8] he has termed it "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person", "inadmissible", and committed the Church to its abolition,[9] saying that there can be "no going back from this position".[10]
In international diplomacy, Francis has criticized the rise of right-wing populism, called for the decriminalization of homosexuality (though still considering same-sex acts as sinful),[11] called for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, negotiated a deal with China to define how much influence the Communist Party has in appointing Chinese bishops, and has supported the cause of refugees during the European and Central American migrant crises, calling on the Western World to significantly increase immigration levels.[12][13] In 2022, he apologized for the Church's role in the "cultural genocide" of the Canadian indigenous peoples.[14] On 4 October 2023, Francis convened the beginnings of the Synod on Synodality, described as the culmination of his papacy and the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.[4][15][16] In October 2024, it was revealed that Pope Francis would be the first sitting pope to publish a memoir, Hope, which is set to be published in January 2025.[17]
- ^ Scarisbrick, Veronica (18 March 2013). "Pope Francis: "Miserando atque eligendo"..." Vatican Radio. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ "Pope Francis to live in Vatican guesthouse, not papal apartments | National Catholic Reporter". www.ncronline.org. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ Dallas, Kelsey (3 October 2023). "The pope's latest comments on same-sex marriage, explained". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ a b Faiola, Andy; Boorstein, Michelle; Brady, Kate (2 October 2023). "Amid liberal revolt, pope signals openness to blessings for gay couples". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- ^ Pullella, Philip (26 January 2024). "Pope says LGBT blessings are for individuals, not approval of unions". Reuters. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
- ^ Davies, Lizzy (15 December 2013). "Pope says he is not a Marxist, but defends criticism of capitalism". The Guardian. Rome, Italy. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013.
- ^ Sherwood, Harriet (7 September 2021). "Christian leaders unite to issue stark warning over climate crisis". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Trabbic, Joseph G. (16 August 2018). "Capital punishment: Intrinsically evil or morally permissible?". Catholic World Report. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ "New revision of number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the death penalty – Rescriptum "ex Audentia SS.mi"". press.vatican.va. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Pullella-2023was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "The AP Interview: Pope Francis: Homosexuality not a crime". AP News. 25 January 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ Rocca, Francis X. (22 September 2023). "Pope Francis Calls Protection of Migrants a Duty of Civilization". WSJ. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ Lauter, David; Bierman, Noah (18 February 2016). "Trump and Pope Francis clash over immigration, another extraordinary campaign twist". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ Horowitz, Jason (30 July 2022). "Francis Calls Abuse of Indigenous People in Canada a 'Genocide'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- ^ Horowitz, Jason; Povoledo, Elisabetta (2 October 2023). "What Is a Synod in the Catholic Church? And Why Does This One Matter?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- ^ Horowitz, Jason (2 October 2023). "Vatican Assembly Puts the Church's Most Sensitive Issues on the Table". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- ^ Richards, Bailey (26 October 2024). "Pope Francis Makes History with New Autobiography Hope, Originally Meant to Be Published After His Death". People.
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