I.

Bibliography of Pope Francis

Childhood & Early Life

Pope Francis was born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Italian immigrants, Mario Jose Bergoglio and

Regina Mara Svori. Eldest of the five children of the couple, young Bergoglio was just like any other
child.
He shared a fondness for dancing and traditional music of Argentina and Uruguay, known as

milonga. Bergoglio attained his preliminary education from Wilfrid Barn de los Santos ngeles, post
which he graduated from Escuela Nacional de Educacin Tcnica N 27 Hiplito Yrigoyen as a
chemical technician.
Upon graduation, Bergoglio worked as a chemical technician in the foods section at the

Hickethier-Bachmann Laboratory. However, he did not continue the same for long as he realized his
true calling and ventured into priesthood.
As A Jesuit

Deciding to pursue sainthood, Bergoglio gained admission at the Inmaculada Concepcin

Seminary, in Villa Devoto, Buenos Aires. He moved out of the same after three years in 1958 and
entered the Society of Jesus.
As a Jesuit novice, Bergoglio studied humanities in Santiago, Chile. It was in 1960 that Bergoglio

officially became a Jesuit, when he made the religious profession of the initial, temporary vows of a
member of the order.
Same year, i.e. in 1960, Bergoglio attended the Colegio de San Jos in San Miguel. He

graduated with a degree in philosophy in 1963. Following year, Bergoglio took up the post of a teacher
of literature and psychology at the Immaculate Conception College in Santa Fe.
From 1967 until 1970, Bergoglio studied theology and obtained a degree from the Colegio of San
Jose.

In 1969, Bergoglio was ordained as a priest by Archbishop Ramon Jose Castellano. It was during

this time that he attended the Facultades de Filosofia y Teologia de San Miguel (Philosophical and
Theological Faculty of San Miguel), a seminary in San Miguel, where he served as the master of
novices and became a professor of theology.
He vowed his final profession with the Jesuits on April 22, 1973. Bergoglio was made the

Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus on July 1973, he served at this position for next six years.
After the completion of his term as Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus, in 1980, he was

named the rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel in San Miguel which he
continued until 1986.
In March 1986, Bergoglio moved to Germany to finish his doctoral thesis at the Sankt Georgen
Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt. Thereafter, he returned to Argentina to serve
as a spiritual director and confessor at the Colegio del Salvador

As A Bishop

In 1992, Bergoglio was ordained as Titular Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary of Buenos Aires by

Cardinal Antonio Quarracino.

Five years later, in 1997, he was promoted and appointed to the position of Coadjutor Archbishop
of Buenos Aires. It was during this time that Bergoglio chose the episcopal motto, Miserando atque
eligendo meaning, because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him.

Following the death of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, in 1998, Bergoglio became Metropolitan

Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

As an Archbishop, Bergoglio was involved in creation of new parishes and restructuring of the

archdiocese administrative offices. He strengthened the presence of Church in the slums and
underdeveloped areas of Buenos Aires. It was during his term that the number of priests working in
these areas doubled in number.
In 1998, while Bergoglio was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he was named ordinary (an officer of a

church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws) for those Eastern
Catholics in Argentina who lacked a prelate of their own rite.
Bergoglio while serving as an Archbishop made efforts to reconcile with Jeronimo Podesta, a

former bishop who had been defrocked as a priest, because of his opposition to the military dictatorship
during the 1970s.
It was during his service as a bishop that Bergoglio made it customary to celebrate the Holy
Thursday ritual washing of feet in "a jail, a hospital, a home for the elderly or with poor people".

As A Cardinal

In 2001, John Paul II conferred upon Archbishop Bergoglio the rank of Cardinal, with the title of

cardinal-priest of San Roberto Bellarmino. Cardinal Bergoglio attained a reputation for personal
humility, doctrinal conservatism and a commitment to social justice.
In 2005, Bergoglio was elected as President of the Argentine Bishops Conference, which he
served for two terms until 2011. Same year, he participated in the Papal Conclave as a Cardinal elector
in which Pope Benedict XVI was elected.

As A Pope

Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, a Papal Conclave was commissioned and

election was held to adjudge the successor. It was on the second day of the conclave that Bergoglio
was elected as the Pope. He was elected on 13 March 2013 on the fifth ballot of the conclave.
With his election, Bergoglio became the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the first

citizen from the Americas, the first non-European and first Jesuit priest to be named pope.
Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope, defied the norms and formalities of the position right from the very

beginning. A few instances which prove the same are his acceptance of the cardinals' congratulations
while standing instead of being seated, wearing the white Cossack instead of the red mozzetta and iron
pectoral cross instead of the gold one worn by his predecessors, on his first appearance as a pontiff.
Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio changed his name to Pope Francis after Saint

Francis of Assisi. He had chosen the name because of his concern of the well-being of the poor. It is
the first time that a pope has been named Francis.
The Papal inauguration of Pope Francis was held on March 19, 2013 in St Peters Square in the

Vatican. He celebrated the Mass amidst thousands of pilgrims and spiritual and religious leaders
across the globe.
Immediately after his appointment, Pope Francis took several eye-twitching decisions, including
the abolishing of the bonuses paid to Vatican employees upon the election of a new pope and the
annual bonus paid to the cardinals serving on the Board of Supervisors for the Vatican bank, opting
instead to donate the money to the poor. This was his first step towards his mission to safeguard the
well-being of the poor.

Furthermore, Pope Francis elected eight Cardinals as his advisors for planning a revise in the

Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia. Following the tradition of Holy Thursday, Pope Francis in
his first Thursday visited a jail in Rome where he washed the feet of twelve inmates.
On his first Easter homily, Pope Francis took the opportunity to appeal for peace and harmony in

the world. He advised people not to tread on the path of easy gain and give up greed for humanity, as it
is the only way to protect environment.
Pope Francis issued his first canonization on May 12th 2013 in which all those who were
canonized during the reign of Benedict XVI were approved. His canonizations included the first
Colombian saint, Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena the second female Mexican saint, Maria Guadalupe
Garcia
Zavala,
and
the
Martyrs
of
Otranto.

His Teachings

A true advocator of humility and self-effacement, Pope Francis has been noted for his

commitment to serve the poor and needy and to bridge gaps between people of different backgrounds,
faiths and beliefs. All through his life as a priest, Pope Francis has considered social outreach, rather
than doctrinal battles, to be the essential business of the church.
In choosing the motto, Miserando atque eligendo, which stands for Jesus mercy towards sinners,

Pope Francis highlights the importance and power of mercy. He has continuously prophesized the
morality as a response to Gods mercy. Pope Francis is of the belief that morality is a revolution rather
than an effort.
Ever since his attainment of priesthood, Pope Francis has procured accolades and appreciation
for his stand against poverty and economic differences. He has blamed poverty and unjust economic
structures of the society as the reigning cause for inequality and violation of human rights and has
urged the world to get rid of the immoral, unjust and illegitimate social debt.

Pope Francis has voiced a strong opinion against bribery, homelessness and exploitation of the
workers. He said that while the former numbed the conscience of a man, the latter showcases that the
world is free from slavery only figuratively and not literally.

A traditionalist and a staunch orthodox, Pope Francis has clearly been a strong antagonist on
matters of sexual morality, staunchly opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and contraception.
Though he argued that homosexuals should be treated with respect and consideration, the practice of
homosexuality should not be indorsed.

Trivia

He is the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. With this appointment, he became the first
citizen from the Americas, the first non-European and first Jesuit priest to be named Pope.