Francis (Latin: Franciscus; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936) is the 266th and current pope of the Catholic Church, elected on 13 March 2013. In that role, he is both the leader of the Catholic Church and sovereign ruler of the Vatican City State.From 1998 until his election as pope,he served as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and was made a cardinal in 2001
by Pope John Paul II.
Francis is the first Jesuit and the first from the Americas to be elected Pope.
He is the first non-European pope since Syrian-born Pope Gregory III, who served for ten years (731–741).
Early life Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Spanish
pronunciation: [ˈxorxe ˈmarjo βer
ˈɡoʎo]) was born in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, one of the five children of Italian immigrants Mario Jose
Bergoglio (Italian pronunciation: [ber
ˈɡoʎʎo]), a railway worker, and Regina
Maria Sivori, a housewife. As a
teenager Bergoglio had a lung
removed as a result of an infection.He studied and received a master's degree in
chemistry at the University of
Buenos Aires before he decided to
pursue an ecclesiastical career.
According to another reference, he
graduated from a technical school as a chemical technician, and at the age of 21 decided to become a priest.
Ecclesiastical career
Jesuit
Bergoglio entered the Society of Jesus
on 11 March 1958 and studied to
become a priest at the Jesuit
seminary in Villa Devoto. In 1960 Bergoglio obtained a licentiate in philosophy from the Colegio Máximo San José in San Miguel; in 1964 and 1965 he taught literature and psychology at the
Colegio de la Inmaculada, a high school in the province of
Santa Fe, Argentina, and in 1966 he taught the same courses at the Colegio del Salvador in Buenos Aires.
In 1967, Bergoglio finished his
theological studies and was
ordained to the priesthood on 13 December 1969, by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano. He attended the Facultades
de Filosofía y Teología de San Miguel (Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel), a seminary in San Miguel, Buenos Aires. Bergoglio attained the position of novice masto
there and became professor of
theology.
The Society of Jesus promoted
Bergoglio and he served as
provincial for Argentina from 1973 to 1979.
He was transferred in 1980 to become the rector of the seminary in San Miguel, and served in that capacity until 1986. He returned to Argentina to serve as confessor and spiritual director in Córdoba.
Bishop Bergoglio was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992 and was ordained on 27 June 1992 as Titular Bishop of Auca, with His Eminence, Antonio Cardinal Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, serving as principal consecrator.
Bergoglio succeeded Cardinal
Quarracino as Archbishop of Buenos Aires on 28 February 1998 and was concurrently named
ordinary for Eastern Catholics in Argentina, who had lacked their own prelate. Cardinal
At the consistory of 21 February 2001,Archbishop Bergoglio was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II with the title of cardinal-priest of San Roberto Bellarmino. As cardinal, Bergoglio was appointed to several administrative positions in the
Roman Curia:
Member of the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments Member of the Congregation for the Clergy
Member of the Congregation for
Institutes of Consecrated Life and
Societies of Apostolic Life Member of the Pontifical Council for the Family Member of the Commission for Latin America Cardinal Bergoglio became known for personal humility, doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social justice. A simple lifestyle
contributed to his reputation for
humility. He lived in a small apartment,rather than in the palatial bishop's residence. He gave up his chauffeured limousine in favor of public transportation.
On the death of Pope John Paul II,
Bergoglio was considered one of the papabile cardinals. He participated as a cardinal elector in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. La Stampa reported that Bergoglio
was in close contention with Ratzinger during the election, until he made an emotional plea that the cardinals should not vote for him. Earlier, he had participated in the funeral of Pope
John Paul II and acted as a regent
alongside the College of Cardinals,
governing the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church during the
interregnum sede vacante period.
During the 2005 Synod of Bishops, he was elected a member of the Post-Synodal council. Catholic journalist John
L. Allen, Jr. reported that Bergoglio was a frontrunner in the 2005 Conclave. An unauthorized diary of uncertain authenticity released in September 2005 confirmed that Bergoglio was the runner-up and main challenger of Cardinal Ratzinger at that conclave. The purported diary of the anonymous cardinal claimed Bergoglio received 40 votes in the third ballot, but fell back to 26 at the fourth and decisive ballot.
On 8 November 2005, Bergoglio was elected President of the
Argentine
Episcopal Conference for a three-year
term (2005–2008) by a large majority
of the Argentine bishops, which
according to reports confirms his local
leadership and the international
prestige earned by his alleged
performance in the conclave. He was
reelected on 11 November 2008.
As a cardinal, Bergoglio was associated
with
Communion and Liberation, a
conservative Catholic association of the
[18]faithful.
Relations with the Argentine
government
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio
meets Argentine president
Cristina Fernández de
Kirchner.
On 15 April 2005, a human rights
lawyer filed a criminal complaint
against Bergoglio, as superior in the
Society of Jesus of Argentina, accusing
him of involvement in the kidnapping
by the Navy in May 1976 (during the
[19]Dirty War) of two Jesuit priests. The
priests, Orlando Yorio and Franz Jalics,
were found alive five months later,
drugged and semi-naked. Yorio
accused Bergoglio of effectively
handing them over to the death
squads by declining to tell the regime
that he endorsed their work. Jalics
refused to discuss it after moving into
[20]seclusion in a German monastery.
Horacio Verbitsky, an Argentine
investigative journalist and former
montonero, wrote a book about this
and other related events titled El
Silencio: de Paulo VI a Bergoglio: las
relaciones secretas de la Iglesia con la
[21]ESMA. Verbitsky also writes that the
Argentine Navy with the help of
Cardinal Bergoglio hid the
dictatorship's political prisoners in
Bergoglio's holiday home from a
visiting delegation of the
Inter-
American Human Rights
[22]Commission.
According to the book, after their
release, Yorio accused the then-
Provincial of his Jesuit order San
Miguel, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, to have
denounced him. Father General
Pedro
Arrupe in Rome was informed by letter
or during the abduction, both he and
Orlando Yorio were excluded from the
[23]Jesuit Order.
Bergoglio told his authorized
biographer, Sergio Rubin, that after the
priests' imprisonment, he worked
behind the scenes for their release;
Bergoglio's intercession with dictator
Jorge Rafael Videla on their behalf may
[24]have saved their lives. "The cardinal
could not justify why these two priests
were in a state of helplessness and
exposed," according to Luis Zamora,
who said that Bergoglio's testimony
"demonstrates the role of the Church
during the last military
[25]dictatorship."
In 2010, Bergoglio told Sergio Rubin
that he often sheltered people from the
dictatorship on church property, and
on one occasion gave his identity
papers to a man who looked like him,
to enable the recipient to flee
[26]Argentina.
Bergoglio stated that adoption by
same-sex couples is a form of
discrimination against children. This
position received a rebuke from
Argentine president
Cristina Fernández
de Kirchner, who said the church's
tone was reminiscent of "medieval
[27]times and the Inquisition."
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Papacy
The Holy See
Bergoglio was elected pope on 13
[28][29]March 2013, the second day of
the 2013 papal conclave, taking the
[30]papal name Francis. Vatican deputy
spokesman Thomas Rosica said the
same day that the new pontiff had
chosen the name in honor of
Saint
Francis of Assisi, and had done so
because the new pontiff was a lover of
[31][32][33]the poor. Cardinal Dolan, a
first-person witness and participant in
the proceedings of the Conclave,
confirmed that, immediately after the
selection was announced, the new
Pope said, "I choose the name Francis,
[34]in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi."
However, those not initially aware of
the statement made by the new Pope
in the Conclave mistakenly believed
that, as a Jesuit, he chose Francis in
[35][36]recognition of Francis Xavier.
On the day of his election, the Vatican
clarified that his official papal name
was Francis, not "Francis I." A Vatican
spokesman said that the name would
become Francis I if and when there is a
[37]Francis II.
Bergoglio is the first Jesuit priest
[38]chosen to be pope. He is also the
first pope from the Americas, the New
World, and the Southern Hemisphere.
He is the first non-European pope in
1,272 years. The last non-European
pope,
St. Gregory III, was born in Syria
[39]and reigned from 731 to 741.
At the time of his election, Francis was
fluent in Spanish (his mother tongue),
[40]Italian, and German.
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Positions on moral and political
issues
Abortion, euthanasia, and
contraception
Bergoglio has encouraged his clergy
and laity to oppose both abortion and
euthanasia, describing the pro-choice
[41]movement as a "culture of death".
Francis opposed the free distribution
[42]of contraceptives in Argentina.
[better source needed]
He also presented the 2007 "Aparecida
Document" in Buenos Aires following
its Papal approval, a Latin American
document which among many points,
linked doctrinal compliance on
abortion, to worthiness to receive
Holy
Communion, describing abortion as a
"death sentence" (see: below).
Homosexuality
Bergoglio has affirmed church
teaching on homosexuality, including
that "men and women who have deep-
seated homosexual tendencies must
be accepted with respect and
[43][44]compassion." He opposes
[45]same-sex marriage, and strongly,
but ultimately unsuccessfully, opposed
legislation introduced in 2010 by the
Argentine Government to allow
same-
sex marriage, calling it a "real and dire
[46]anthropological throwback." In a
letter to the monasteries of Buenos
[47]Aires, he wrote:
“
"Let's not be naïve, we're not
talking about a simple political
battle; it is a destructive pretension
against the
plan of God. We are not
talking about a mere bill, but rather
a machination of the
Father of Lies
that seeks to confuse and deceive
the children of God."
”
"Father of Lies" is a reference to the
[48]Devil from John 8:44 . Bergoglio
has also stated that adoption by same-
sex couples is a form of discrimination
[citation needed]against children.
Poverty and economic inequality
On 30 September 2009, Bergoglio
spoke at a conference organized by
the
Argentina City Postgraduate School
(EPOCA) at the Alvear Palace Hotel titled
"Las deudas sociales de nuestro
tiempo" where he quoted the 1992
[49]"Documento de Santo Domingo" by
the Latin American Episcopal
Conference, saying "extreme poverty
and unjust economic structures that
cause great inequalities" are violations
[50][51]of human rights. He went on
to describe social debt as "immoral,
[52]unjust and illegitimate".
During a 48-hour public servant strike
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio
observed the differences between
"poor people who are persecuted for
demanding work, and rich people who
are applauded for fleeing from
[53]justice." During a May 2010 speech
in Argentina regarding the poor, he
directed his message to the wealthy by
saying: "You avoid taking into account
the poor. We have no right to duck-
down, to lower the arms carried by
those in despair. We must reclaim the
memory of our country who has a
mother, recover the memory of our
[54]Mother".
Abuse of the vulnerable
In his 2007 presentation, Bergoglio
denounced in strong terms, what he
characterized as a cultural tolerance of
child abuse and "discarding of the
[55]elderly".
Worthiness to receive the Eucharist
and doctrinal compliance
In 2007, as Cardinal Archbishop of
Buenos Aires, Bergoglio presented the
final version of a joint statement of the
bishops of Latin America – the
"Aparecida Document" – upon its
approval by Pope Benedict XVI. Among
many points, the document links
worthiness to receive the
Eucharist, to
compliance and acceptance of Church
teaching against "abominable crimes"
[56]such as abortion and euthanasia:
[55][57][58]
"We hope that legislators, heads of
government, and health professionals,
conscious of the dignity of human life
and of the rootedness of the family in
our peoples, will defend and protect it
from the abominable crimes of
abortion and euthanasia; that is their
responsibility ... We should commit
ourselves to 'eucharistic coherence',
that is, we should be conscious that
people cannot receive Holy
Communion and at the same time act
or speak against the commandments,
in particular when abortion,
euthanasia, and other serious crimes
against life and family are facilitated.
This responsibility applies particularly
to legislators, governors, and health
professionals."
Statements made during his
presentation which referred to a
topical Argentinian abortion case were
opposed by that country's government,
who stated that "the diagnosis of the
Church in relation to social problems in
Argentina is correct, but to mix that
with abortion and euthanasia, is at
least a clear example of ideological
[55]malfeasance.
↑Jump back a section
Bibliography
Books
Jorge Bergoglio; Abraham Skorka
(2010) (in Spanish). Sobre el cielo y la
tierra [On Heaven and Earth]. Buenos
Aires: Editorial Sudamericana.
[59]ISBN 9789500732932
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