POPE FRANCIS

Early Life
Pope Francis - then Jorge Mario Bergoglio - was born in Flores, Buenos Aires on december 17th 1936. He was the first of five children of Mario José Bergoglio, an Italian immigrant accountant and his wife, Regina Maria Sivori. Two of his siblings were sister Maria - only living sibling - and brother Alberto - died 2010. In sixth year Jorge attended Wilfrid Barón de los Santos Ángeles School and graduated college with a chemical technician diploma. At age 21, he came down with life threatening pneumonia and three cysts. Before joining Jesuits, he worked as a janitor and in a chemical lab.

Being and becoming a Jesuit
Jorge studied at the archdiocesan seminary, Inmaculada Concepción Seminary, in Villa Devoto, Buenos Aires, and, after three years, entered the Society of Jesus as a novice on 11 March 1958. He admitted that he had a major crush on a girl when he was studying at the seminary so for a while doubting his chances of following through with his work! Even so, he officially became a Jesuit on the 12th of March 1960. He taught literature and philosophy at a high school in Santa Fe, from 1964 to 1965. In 1966 he taught the same classes in Colegio del Salvador. Bergoglio completed his final stage of spiritual formation as a Jesuit, tertianship, at Alcalá de Henares, Spain. He took the final fourth vow (obedience to the pope) in the Society of Jesus on 22 April 1973.

His Faith Since
He was named Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina on 31 July 1973 and served until 1979. After the completion of his term of office, in 1980 he was named the rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel in San Miguel.[66] Before taking up this new appointment, he spent the first three months of 1980 in Ireland to learn English, staying at the Jesuit Centre in the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Dublin. After returning to Argentina to take up his new post at San Miguel, Father Bergoglio served in that capacity until 1986. He spent several months at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Germany.

Becoming Bishop

Bergoglio was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992 and ordained on 27 June 1992 as Titular Bishop of Auca. On 3 June 1997, Bergoglio was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires with right of automatic succession. Upon Quarracino's death on 28 February 1998, Bergoglio became Metropolitan Archbishop of Buenos Aires. One of Bergoglio's major initiatives as archbishop was to increase the Church's presence in the slums of Buenos Aires. Under his leadership, the number of priests assigned to work in the slums doubled. This work led to him being called the "Slum Bishop". In 2000 Father Bergoglio made it a tradition on Holy Thursday to wash the feet of those in hospitals, jails, retirement communities and slums.

Being a Cardinal
21 February 2001, Archbishop Bergoglio was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II with the title of cardinal-priest of San Roberto Bellarmino. As cardinal, Bergoglio was appointed to five administrative positions in the Roman Curia. He was member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Commission for Latin America. Cardinal Bergoglio became known for personal humility, doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social justice. A simple lifestyle contributed to his reputation for humility. He lived in a small apartment, rather than in the elegant bishop's residence in the suburb of Olivos.

Being A Cardinal Part 2
He took public transportation and cooked his own meals. He was known to have a unique devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux, and he enclosed a small picture of her in the letters he wrote, calling her "a great missionary saint." He attended the funeral of Pope John Paul ||. He was a cardinal elector when Pope Benedict XV| was elected. It was reported that lots of people saw Cardinal Bergoglio as a main candidate for becoming pope although he did not get the position. In 2005, Cardinal Bergoglio authorized the request for beatification—the first step towards sainthood. In 2006 the future pope publicly opposed the Argentine government about letting some abortion legal.

Becoming Pope
When He became pope, the reactions were very different. The Argentine community loved it, but there were some conspiracy theories and other problems such as the president not really giving a what-sit about it. He chose his name, Francis, after Saint Francis, the Saint Of Animals. Pope Francis is now aged 77.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Wikipedia for some info
• Google Images
• Haiku Deck
• Vatican.va
• Me, Myself and I