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Born in 1936, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, making him the first pope from the Americas.
Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2023. Domenico Stinellis / AP
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Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to lead the Catholic Church following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. He chose the name Pope Francis.
Seminarian Jorge Mario Bergoglio at the El Salvador School, where he taught literature and psychology, in Buenos Aires in 1966.El Salvador School via APCardinal Bergoglio kisses the foot of Cristian Marcelo Reynoso during a Mass with young people trying to overcome drug addiction in Buenos Aires in 2008.APCardinal Bergoglio travels on the subway in Buenos Aires in 2008.Pablo Leguizamon / AP
Bergoglio was known for taking the subway and mingling with the poor of Buenos Aires when he was archbishop.
Cardinal Bergoglio greets worshippers in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Liniers in 2009.Marcos Brindicci / ReutersNewly elected Pope Francis I appears on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on March 13, 2013.Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images fileFaithful cheer as the new pope appears at St. Peter's Basilica.Eric Gaillard / Reuters
Francis, the 266th pope, was elected to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.
Pope Francis presides over a papal Mass with the Celebration of the Lord's Passion at St. Peter's Basilica on March 29, 2013, during his first Holy Week as pope.Dan Kitwood / Getty Images filePope Francis with a dove before his Wednesday general audience at St. Peter's Square in 2013. L'Osservatore Romano via ReutersPope Francis waves as he leaves Guanabara Palace in Rio de Janeiro, where he attended a welcoming ceremony on July 22, 2013.Ricardo Moraes / Reuters file
The pope’s first foreign trip was to Brazil, home to the world’s largest Roman Catholic population.
Francis with young people on a pilgrimage, including Riccardo Aguiari, second from left, at St. Peter's Basilica on Aug. 28, 2013.L'Osservatore Romano via AP; Riccardo AguiariPope Emeritus Benedict XVI, left, is welcomed by Pope Francis as he returns to the Vatican from the pontifical summer residence of Castel Gandolfo on May 2, 2013.L'Osservatore Romano via AP file
Francis’ election as pope began an unprecedented era, as a retired pope lived side by side with a reigning one inside the Vatican gardens.
Pope Francis arrives to conduct his weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square in 2013.Max Rossi / Reuters filePope Francis blesses a baby in St. Peter's Square in 2015. Gregorio Borgia / AP fileFrancis with Cuba's Fidel Castro in Havana on Sept. 20, 2015.Alex Castro / AP
Francis met with Fidel Castro at Castro’s home after he delivered Cuba’s largest papal Mass ever, before an estimated 200,000 people in Havana’s Revolution Square.
President Barack Obama and Pope Francis walk down the White House Colonnade a before meeting in the Oval Office on Sept. 23, 2015.Andrew Harnik / AP file
President Barack Obama expressed thanks to Francis for reminding the world of a “sacred obligation” to protect the planet, for encouraging reconciliation between the United States and Cuba and for pushing humanity toward peace.
Pope Francis visits Ground Zero in New York on Sept. 25, 2015.L'Osservatore Romano / Pool via AP)
“Here, grief is palpable,” the pope said later at an interfaith service at the Sept. 11 Memorial Museum. “The water we see flowing toward that empty pit reminds us of all those lives which fell prey to those who think that destruction, tearing down, is the only way to settle conflicts.”
Pope Francis visits Auschwitz, the former Nazi death camp, on July 29, 2016.L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters
Francis made a mostly silent pilgrimage to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. His only public words were written in Spanish in the Auschwitz guest book: “Lord, have pity on your people. Lord, forgive so much cruelty.”
Francis changes his skullcap, called a zucchetto, as he leaves St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audience in 2017. Angele Carconi / EPAFrancis with President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Trump's daughter Ivanka at the end of a private audience at the Vatican on May 24, 2017.Evan Vucci / Pool via AFP - Getty Images fileFrancis during an audience with children from middle schools across Italy at the Vatican on June 2, 2017.AFP - Getty Images fileFrancis talks with crew members of the International Space Station from the Vatican on Oct. 26, 2017. L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters
Francis’ papacy was marked by his concern for the environment, and he echoed his predecessors in stressing the absolute compatibility of faith and science and the compatibility of the big bang theory with God’s “divine act of creation.”
Francis signs a Lamborghini Huracan received as a gift on Nov. 15, 2017, as Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali, to the pope's right, looks on.L'Osservatore Romano via AFP - Getty Images
The pope signed a donated Lamborghini, which normally sells for more than $200,000, outside his Vatican residence. It was auctioned by Sotheby’s, with the proceeds to help the needy.
Francis meets with representatives of Indigenous communities of the Amazon rainforest at the Vatican on Oct. 17, 2019.Vatican Media via AFP - Getty ImagesDancers perform for the pope at the Laszlo Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Hungary on April 29, 2023.Andrew Medichini / AP fileFrancis meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on May 13, 2023.Vatican News via AP
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Pope Francis regularly referred to Ukraine and its people as “martyred” and called for the fighting to end.
Pope Francis on the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on April 20.Tiziana Fabi / AFP - Getty Images
The pope died April 21, 2025, hours after he appeared before crowds at the Vatican on Easter Sunday.
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