Pope Francisto the century Jorge Mario Bergogliohe died today April 21, 2025 at 7:35 at the age of 88 after 12 years of pontificate at Casa Santa Marta, in Rome, where he recently returned after being hospitalized at the Gemelli hospital. Born a Buenos Aires The December 17th 1936. After graduating, in 1958 he entered as novice in the company of Jesus and in 1969 he was ordained a priest. His ecclesiastical career proceeded quickly and the conclave elected him 266th Pope On March 13, 2013 instead of the resigning Benedict XVI. Bergoglio chose to be called Francesco, in honor of the saint of Assisi. During the pontificate, he celebrated two jubilees, he appointed hundreds of new saints and has made trips to numerous countries. Has distinguished itself for some progressive positions in international politics and for having fought for the protection ofenvironment and for the reception of refugees. In some cases, his positions were contested by the most conservative sectors of public opinion, but Francesco has been able to earn the support and affection of millions and millions of people.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s youth
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936. He was the son of Piedmontese immigrants: Father Mario was a railway worker and his mother, Regina Sivori, a housewife.
The family was not wealthy, but the pontiff managed to graduate chemical expert. To keep during his studies he worked as a cleaning officer in a factory and as bouncers in a Córdoba room. According to what he himself told, as a young man he also had one fiancée. In 1958, however, he decided to become a priest and entered a Jesuit seminar, starting his novitiate.
The ecclesiastical career and political positions
After entering the seminary, Bergoglio spent a period in Chile and later returned to Buenos Aires, where yes graduated in philosophy And he began his career as a teacher in some Jesuit colleges. In 1969 he was ordained a priest and four years later he became “provincial” (a sort of coordinator) of the Jesuits for the whole of Argentina. Position taken against the theology of liberationa “left” movement developed within the Latin American clergy, which preached the social and political emancipation of the less well-off classes. Between the 70s and 80s, he had to deal with the ferocious military dictatorship who ruled Argentina and offered asylum to some victims of persecutions. A journalist accused him of having denounced two Jesuit fathers to the military, then put to death, but the accusation never found confirmation.
As a priest, Bergoglio married the “traditional” positions of the church onabortion and on theeuthanasiabut he showed particular attention to the poor and for the marginalized. In the 80s and 90s the ecclesiastical career of the future pontiff proceeded brilliantly. In 1992 he was appointed bishop of Auca and in 1998 he became Archbishop of Buenos Aires and primate of Argentina. Three years later he also obtained the appointment a cardinal.
The Conclave of 2005
In the 2000s Bergoglio had become one of the most views of the church and in 2005, when the conclave for the death of John Paul IIwas considered one of the Cardinals “Papable”: according to rumors he obtained many votes and was the main opponent of Joseph Ratzingerelected with the name of Benedict XVI; In any case, after the Conclave he returned to Argentina, where he also held the role of president of the country’s episcopal conference.
The papal election of 2013 and the meeting with the Pope emeritus
At the conclave of the 2013convened after the resignation by Benedict XVI, Bergoglio was elected pope to the fifth ballot. As a pontifical name he chose Francis (without ordinal): it was a “New” namenever used previously by the Popes, but Bergoglio chose him thinking about Francesco d’Assisi and his attention to the poor and peace. The new Pope also decided not to reside in the Apostolic Palace, but in the Domus Sanctae Marthaethe Vatican “Forestry”, in which he had taken accommodation during the conclave.
One of the first acts by Pontiff was the Visit to Castelgandolfowhere Benedict XVI had temporarily transferred. Francesco has always shown great respect for his predecessor, to the point of declaring: “It is like my dad, if I had a difficulty, something I didn’t understand, I can go to talk to him”. The rumors about possible contrasts between the two popes, fueled by the press and the declarations of some prelates, have never found confirmation.
Pope Francis: reforms, appointments and jubili
Over time Francesco introduced some reforms in the order of the Church. Shortly after the election appointed a commission to study how to reform the Roman Curia (i.e. the institutions of the Holy See). The reform was issued in 2022 with the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate evangeliumwhich, among other things, recognized the possibility that the laity hires assignments in the Curia and has established to make relationships with the episcopal conferences of individual countries closer. Francesco also introduced some reforms to the Vatican penal code. He also sought on contrast pedophilia Inside the Church, imposing the transfer of priests and bishops accused of having completed sexual abuse on children. In November 2015, Francesco called a extraordinary jubileeended a year later, and on December 24, 2024 he inaugurated solemnly, with the opening of the Holy Door of the Basilica of San Pietro, the ordinary Jubilee. In his 12 years of pontificate, Francesco has appointed overall 1541 blessed And 942 saints (including the 813 martyrs of Otranto, killed by the Turks in 1480). Also, he made 47 apostolic trips outside the Vatican State, visiting 66 countries in total, e 40 apostolic visits in Italy.
The political positions of Pope Francis
Francesco has characterized himself for the search for the interreligious dialogue with other faiths: not only with non -Catholic Christian confessions, but also with the Muslimswhich in 2013 called “our brothers”. In 2021 he was the first Pope to visit theIraq. He also invited governments to welcome migrants and refugees And it was particularly attentive to environmental issuesto which the encyclical dedicated Laudato yes of 2015. He has always shown respect and predicted welcome for people homosexualsbut expressed closing positions towards the recognition of unions between people of the same sex. Among the political leaders with whom he had the most heated contrasts, although ever explicit, there are the American president Trump and the former Argentine president Macri.
