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Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936  was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until his death on 21 April 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born outside of Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.

Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Throughout his public life, Francis was noted for his humility, emphasis on God’s mercy, international visibility as pope, concern for the poor, and commitment to interreligious dialogue 

Francis was the first Jesuit pope. This was a significant appointment because of the sometimes tense relations between the Society of Jesus and the Holy See. He was also the first from the Americas, and the first from the Southern Hemisphere. Many media reported him as being the first non-European pope, but he was the 11th; the previous was Gregory III from Syria who died in 741. Although Francis was not born in Europe, he was ethnically European; his father and maternal grandparents were from northern Italy. 

As pope, Francis’s manner was less formal than that of his immediate predecessors, a style that news coverage referred to as “no frills”, noting that it was “his common touch and accessibility that is proving the greatest inspiration”.On the night of his election, he took a bus back to his hotel with the cardinals rather than being driven in the papal car. The next day, he visited Cardinal Jorge María Mejía in the hospital and chatted with patients and staff. In addition to his native Spanish, he spoke fluent Italian (the official language of Vatican City and the “everyday language” of the Holy See) and German. He was also conversant in Latin (the official language of the Holy See), French, Portuguese, and English; he also understood Piedmontese and some Genoese Ligurian. 

Francis chose not to live in the official papal residence in the Apostolic Palace but instead remained in the Vatican guest house in a suite in which he received visitors and held meetings. He was the first pope since Pope Pius X to live outside the papal apartments. Francis appeared at the window of the Apostolic Palace for the Sunday Angelus. 

As a Jesuit pope, Francis made clear that a fundamental task of the faithful is not so much to follow rules but to discern what God is calling them to do. He altered the culture of the clergy, steering away from what he named “clericalism” (which dwells on priestly status and authority) and toward an ethic of service (Francis said the church’s shepherds must have the “smell of the sheep”, always staying close to the People of God).