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Pope (2013-2025), Bishop of Rome

Santa Sede · Roma · Argentina

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentine Jesuit born in Buenos Aires in 1936, was Pope from 13 March 2013 to 21 April 2025. The first Latin American and first Jesuit Pope, he led the reform of the Curia with Praedicate Evangelium.

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Biography

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires on 17 December 1936, to a family of Piedmontese origin. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1958 and was ordained a priest in 1969. From 1973 to 1979 he was Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina. In 1992 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires and in 1998 became its Archbishop. John Paul II created him a cardinal on 21 February 2001. On 13 March 2013 the Conclave elected him Pope: the first Latin American Pontiff, the first Jesuit and the first to take the name Francis. His main documents include the Encyclicals Lumen fidei, Laudato si', Fratelli tutti and Dilexit nos, the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia and the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, which reformed the Roman Curia in 2022. He died on 21 April 2025, Easter Monday. He was succeeded by Leo XIV, elected on 8 May 2025.

Career timeline

  1. 17 December 1936

    Jorge Mario Bergoglio born in Buenos Aires.

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  2. 11 March 1958

    Entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus.

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  3. 13 December 1969

    Ordained a priest.

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  4. 31 July 1973

    Appointed Jesuit Provincial of Argentina (until 1979).

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  5. 20 May 1992

    Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires and Titular Bishop of Auca by John Paul II.

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  6. 27 June 1992

    Ordained a bishop (appointed by John Paul II Titular Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires).

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  7. 3 June 1997

    Appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

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  8. 28 February 1998

    Succeeded Cardinal Quarracino as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and Primate of Argentina.

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  9. 21 February 2001

    Created Cardinal by John Paul II, with the title of San Roberto Bellarmino.

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  10. 13 March 2013

    Elected Pope, taking the name Francis.

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  11. 19 March 2013

    Formal inauguration of his Petrine ministry.

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  12. 21 April 2025

    Died at the Domus Sanctae Marthae in the Vatican.

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  13. —

    1973: made his perpetual profession as a Jesuit and was appointed Jesuit Provincial of Argentina.

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