Pope Francis

A Quick History Of Pope Francis

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, age 78, is the first South American Catholic Pope, Bishop of Rome and Sovereign of Vatican City. He’s quite a busy man, fully serving God in all of his works. Prior to his religious endeavors, Bergoglio studied to be a chemical technician and worked as a bar bouncer and janitor in Buenos Aires. At age 24, he became a Jesuit through his profession to the order in 1960 after studying at the seminary in Chile.

After teaching literature and psychology throughout Argentina for six years, Bergoglio became a priest in 1969. Through his priesthood, Bergoglio made significant advancements. After just four years of priesthood, he became the superior of Argentina’s Society of Jesus where he remained until 1979. Following this, he traveled the world learning English and educating young Jesuits with non-traditional takes on social justice.

In 1992, Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires. Just five years later, Bergoglio became Archbishop of Buenos Aires and spent much of his time focusing on helping the slums of Buenos Aires, decreasing divorces, and reformed the financial structure of the archdiocese.

Just 9 years later in 2001, Archbishop Bergoglio was named a cardinal by Pope John Paul II. While continuing archbishop services in Buenos Aires, Bergoglio became more and more involved in the papacy matters in Rome. He was on the papal conclave to elect Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and was noted as the runner up to Cardinal Ratzinger during the election. Just 8 years later, Pope Benedict XVI resigned papacy due to health concerns and Bergoglio was named Pope on March 13, 2013 and took the name Francis as his papal title after Saint Francis of Assisi.

In the few years that Pope Francis has lead the Catholic Church, he has greatly cared for many social issues consisting of: poverty, the environment, mercy, abortion, the clergy, homosexuality, religious persecution, capital punishment, and evangelization among many others.

Pope Francis' Visit To The USA

Pope Francis is visiting the United States in the fall of 2015 during the World Meeting of Families. This work relates with his efforts in evangelization: to bring the people closer to the Church. Pope Francis has observed that many Christians revert away from the Catholic Church due to the feeling of being forced into the habits and structures that seem restricting. Instead of fostering these forces, Pope Francis preaches individual unity with Christ. Therefore, the World Meeting of Families is a medium of religious expression that brings Christians together outside of the Church’s walls to observe the genuine love of God.

Pope Francis strives to bring people together. He is known to be less formal when portraying his love and teachings of God and the Church. More than anything, Pope Francis wants the people to love Christ as he does. Through the love of God may we have better lives.

Pope Francis will be in the United States during the following times and places:

Washington D.C. September 22-24

New York September 25-26

Philadelphia September 26-27

Now's your time to get Pope Francis memorabilia. Whether you'll be attending the World Meeting of Families or celebrating from afar, bring along your favorite Pope keepsakes for a blessing and memories of a lifetime.