Pope Francis I life and biography

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, better known as Pope Francis I is both head of the Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City State. Argentina's Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, is a theological conservative with a strong social conscience, and a modest man who declined the archbishop's luxurious residence to live in a simple apartment and travel by bus.

Jorge Bergoglio was also the runner-up in the 2005 conclave that elected German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to become Pope Benedict.

According to a 2013 profile in The Catholic Herald, "He studied and received a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires, but later decided to become a Jesuit priest and studied at the Jesuit seminary of Villa Devoto." He also has a degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of Buenos Aires, which he earned in 1960.

He served as head of the Society of Jesus in Argentina from 1973 to 1979. In 1998 he became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and in 2001 a cardinal. Following the resignation of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, on 28 February 2013, the conclave elected Bergoglio, who chose the papal name Franciscus in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi. He is the first Pope to be a Jesuit, to come from the Americas, and to come from the Southern Hemisphere. Francis is the first non-European pope in 1,272 years, since Syrian St. Gregory III. He is also the first pope to be a member of a Catholic religious order since Pope Gregory XVI, who died in 1846.

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 five 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

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 elected Pope Benedict XVI. In the National Catholic Reporter 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.

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 especially concerned for the well-being of the poor. This is the first time that a pope has been named "Francis" and the first time since Pope Lando's 913–914 reign that a serving pope held a name unused by a predecessor.

Pope Francis, elected at the age of 76, is reported to be in good health due to his austere and healthy lifestyle. Doctors say that his missing lung tissue (which was removed in 1969) does not have a significant impact on his health. The only concern would be decreased respiratory reserve if he had a respiratory infection.

An attack of sciatica in 2007 prevented him from attending a consistory and delayed his return to Argentina for several days.

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