Who is Pope Francis? Early Life, Education, and Career

Pope Francis was born on December 17, 1936 in Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Since his election in 2013, Buenos Aires, Argentina has been Changed the face of the Roman Catholic Church. Francis first served as the pope, introduced a new vision and devoted humility and reform.

Early life and education

Bergoglio’s background is the Italian immigrant community in Argentina. After early research aimed at becoming a chemical technician, he worked briefly in the food processing industry. Then he discovered the powerful profession of the church. Early life was affected by health problems as he had bad cases of pneumonia around the age of 21 and lost a portion of his lungs.

He joined the Jesuit newbie in 1958, the beginning of his formal religious education. He then went on to study the humanities at the academic level of Santiago and studied in the philosophy of Buenos Aires. After graduation, he taught literature and psychology in high school along with theological studies. Bergoglio was appointed pastor in 1969 and served as the final oath of a member of the Jesuit Order in 1973. He then became the superior (leader) of the Jesuit Province of Argentina in 1973-79.

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The Pope’s career

His time as Jesuit leader in Argentina overlaps with General Jorge Rafael Videola’s military rule after the 1976 coup. The subsequent “dirty war” was characterized by widespread human rights violations. Despite his controversy during this period, Bergoglio asserted that he protected the individuals of the government and even assisted some to escape the country. In the 1980s, he was the president and teacher of the German theological school and a graduate student in theology. When he was appointed as the auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, his career grew steadily and was archbishop in 1998 and eventually was regarded as cardinal in 2001.

Pope and key achievements

Pope Benedict XVI’s retirement in February 2013 laid the foundation for Bergoglio’s election. He introduced St. Francis of Assisi in the name of Francis, living a simple life as poor. He still remembers St. Francis Xavier, the co-founder of the Jesuits.

Pope Francis stressed spiritual renewal and feared the poor, and condemned the power to deviate the church from its ministry. He took an unprecedented move to establish a council of eight cardinals to assist him in formulating church policies. His expression of Christ’s words “redeemed all of us” and even non-Catholics are interpreted as outreach and gestures of goodwill.

His Pope was marked by important documents such as Laudato Si (2015), which involved the comprehensiveness of climate crisis and advocated for environmental management.

Despite the criticism, Pope Francis certainly left an indelible mark on the Catholic Church and the world.

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