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Jorge Mario Bergoglio, originally from an Italian immigrant family, ascended to become the head of the Catholic Church, making him one of the world’s most influential figures.
He was pope for 12 years.
Here are the key events in his remarkable life.
Dec. 17, 1936: Jorge Mario Bergoglio is born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is the first of five children to Mario Jose Bergoglio, an Italian-born accountant, and Regina María Sívori, herself the daughter of Italian immigrants.
Dec. 13, 1969: He is ordained as a priest within the Jesuit order, which he would eventually guide as the provincial superior of Argentina during the country’s brutal dictatorship that started in the 1970s.
May 20, 1992: Named auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and in 1998 succeeds Cardinal Antonio Quarracino as archbishop of the Argentine capital.
Feb. 21, 2001: Elevated to cardinal by St. John Paul II.
March 23, 2025: Is released from the hospital after 38 days of treatment but looked weak and frail earlier that day when appearing on a balcony to greet the crowd below.
April 17, 2025: Still recovering from double pneumonia, Francis keeps his Holy Thursday tradition of spending time with the least fortunate, visiting inmates at Rome’s Regina Caeli prison. Although he says he couldn’t perform the ritual of washing the feet of 12 people in a gesture of humility, he adds he wanted to be with them and “do what Jesus did on Holy Thursday.”
