The Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was born in Buenos Aires on 17 December 1936, the son of Italian immigrants. Bergoglio was elected pope on 13 March 2013, the second day of the 2013 papal conclave, taking the papal name Francis. Francis was elected on the fifth ballot of the conclave.

On 13 December 1969 he was ordained a priest. He continued his training between 1970 and 1971 at the University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain, and on 22 April 1973 made his final profession with the Jesuits. On 31 July 1973 he was appointed Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina, an office he held for six years. At the Consistory of 21 February 2001, John Paul II appointed him Cardinal. He asked the faithful not to come to Rome to celebrate his creation as Cardinal but rather to donate to the poor what they would have spent on the journey.

He was elected Supreme Pontiff on 13 March 2013. At his first audience on 16 March 2013, Francis told journalists that he had chosen the name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi and that he had done so because he was especially concerned for the well-being of the poor.

Since 2018 he has been a heavily vocal opponent of neo-nationalism. He has faced criticism from theological conservatives on many questions, including admitting civilly divorced and remarried Catholics to communion with the publication of 'Amoris laetitia' (the joy of love).

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