Buenos Aires (Argentina), 1936

By Gerson Sintoni

The Argentine Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the first Latin American priest to become pope, succeeding Benedict XVI, who resigned from the position. After two days of the conclave, he was elected pope on March 13, 2013, adopting the name Francis in reference to St. Francis of Assisi, the Italian saint who renounced a life of possessions to dedicate himself to the poor and nature.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in the Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires. His parents, the accountant Mario Bergoglio and the homemaker Regina, were Italian immigrants from Piedmont who moved to Argentina. The future pope initially graduated in chemistry, but at the age of 20, in 1957, he decided to become a priest. He entered the Villa Devoto seminary and began his novitiate in the Society of Jesus in 1958, being ordained a priest in 1969. In 1992, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Argentine capital, archbishop in 1998, and was made cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.

Bergoglio has a solid intellectual background. Before becoming pope, he divided his time between religious life and academia. He served as rector of the Faculty of San Miguel for six years and earned a doctorate in theology in Freiburg, Germany. A man of simple habits, he values austerity and has always taken positions in favor of the poor and social justice. Nonetheless, a shadow of controversy surrounds him due to an accusation made by human rights activists: in the 1970s, during the Argentine military dictatorship, he allegedly facilitated the capture of two Jesuits suspected of fighting against the regime—an accusation he has always denied.

As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio presented an orthodox stance on issues such as homosexuality, abortion, and the use of contraceptives. He also had a conflicted relationship with former president Néstor Kirchner and later with his successor and wife, Cristina Kirchner, whose governments were marked by advances in social issues, such as the legalization of same-sex marriage.

However, once elected pope, he softened his rhetoric and adopted more progressive positions. He also worked to restructure various Church institutions. For example, he created a commission to reform the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), the so-called Vatican Bank, which had been involved in several financial scandals. He showed a firm hand in addressing priests accused of sexually abusing minors, approving a reform of the Holy See’s penal code that strengthened sanctions against sexual crimes. He brought environmental issues into religious discourse with the 2015 encyclical Laudato si, which addresses ecological concerns. Additionally, he worked toward the rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, which restored diplomatic relations in July 2015.