aría Sívori,[33] a housewife born in Buenos Aires to a family of northern Italian (Piedmontese-Genoe

Church, having been elected Bishop of Rome and absolute Sovereign of the Vatican City State.[2]
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technician and nightclub bouncer before entering the seminary.[3] He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and was created a Cardinal in 2001. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, the subsequent papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose his papal name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first Jesuit Pope, the first Pope from the Americas, the first Pope from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European Pope since Pope Gregory III in 741, 1272 years earlier.[4]
Throughout his public life, both as an individual and as a religious leader, Pope Francis has been noted for his humility, his concern for the poor, and his commitment to dialogue as a way to build bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and faiths.[5][6][7] He is known for having a simpler and less formal approach to the papacy, most notably by choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace formerly used by his predecessors. In addition, he is known for favoring simpler vestments void of ornamentation, by starting to refuse the traditional papal mozzetta cape upon his election, choosing silver instead of gold for his piscatory ring, and keeping the same pectoral cross he had when he was cardinal.[8][9]
Pope Francis, while affirming present Catholic doctrine, has stated that Catholics have concentrated excessively on condemning abortion, contraception, and homosexual acts, while neglecting the greater need for tenderness, mercy and compassion. He refrained from passing judgment on gay priests who sincerely take on celibacy.[10] As a Cardinal, the Pontiff opposed gay marriage in Argentina, citing it as a "destructive attack on God's plan by the Father of Lies".[11] In addition, he maintains that he is a "Son of the Church" regarding loyalty to Church doctrine, and has spoken against abortion as "horrific",[12] insisted that women be valued, not clericized.[13] Summarily, Pope Francis reiterates that "It is absurd to say you follow Jesus Christ, but reject the Church.".[14][15]
Accordingly, he urged Bishop Charles J. Scicluna of Malta to speak out against adoption by same-sex couples,[16][17] maintained that divorced and re-married Catholics may not receive Holy Communion,[18][19] as well as excommunicated a former Catholic priest for Eucharistic sacrilege and heretical views.[20][21] Furthermore, he emphasized the Christian obligation to assist the poor and the needy in an optimistic tone, as well as


Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Flores,[30] a barrio of Buenos Aires. He was the eldest[31] of five children of Mario José Bergoglio, an Italian immigrant accountant[32] born in Portacomaro (Province of Asti) in Italy's Piedmont region, and his wife Regina María Sívori,[33] a housewife born in Buenos Aires to a family of northern Italian (Piedmontese-Genoese) origin.[34][35][36][37][38] Bergoglio's sister María Elena told reporters decades later that their father often said that "the advent of fascism was the reason that really pushed him to leave" Italy. She is the pope's only living sibling.[39] His brother Alberto died in June 2010.[40]
Bergoglio has been a lifelong supporter of the San Lorenzo de Almagro football club.[41][42] Bergoglio is also a fan of the films of Tita Merello,[43] neorealism and tango dancing, with an "intense fondness" for the traditional music of Argentina and Uruguay known as the milonga.[43] In the sixth grade, Bergoglio attended Wilfrid Barón de los Santos Ángeles, a school of the Salesians of Don Bosco, in Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires.[44] He attended the technical secondary school Escuela Nacional de Educación Técnica N° 27 Hipólito Yrigoyen[45] and graduated with a chemical technician's diploma.[46] He worked for a few years in that capacity in the foods section at Hickethier-Bachmann Laboratory.[47] In the only known health crisis of his youth, at the age of 21 he suffered from life-threatening pneumonia and three cysts. He had part of a lung excised shortly afterwards thereby affecting his capacity to Gregorian Chant certain prayers during Holy Mass.[45][48]