Dec. 17, 1936: Jorge Mario Bergoglio is born in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, the eldest of five children to Mario Jose Bergoglio, an
accountant from Italy, and Regina Maria Sivori, the daughter of Italian
immigrants.
Dec. 13, 1969: Ordained a priest with the Jesuit
religious order during Argentina’s murderous dictatorship that began in the
1970s.
May 20, 1992: Named auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires
and in 1998 succeeds Cardinal Antonio Quarracino as archbishop of the Argentine
capital.
Feb. 21, 2001: Elevated to cardinal by then pope and
now Saint John Paul II.
March 13, 2013: Elected 266th pope, the first from the
Americas, the first Jesuit and the first to take the name of Francis, after St.
Francis of Assisi.
Nov. 26, 2013: Issues mission statement for his papacy
in Evangelii Gaudium, (“The Joy of the Gospel”), denouncing the world financial
system that excludes the poor.
May 25, 2014: Makes an unscheduled stop to pray at
wall separating Israel from West Bank town of Bethlehem, in a show of support
for the Palestinian cause. He later hosts Israeli and Palestinian presidents
for peace prayers in the Vatican gardens.
June 18, 2015: Issues his environmental manifesto
“Laudato Si” (“Praised Be”), accuses the “structurally perverse” global
economic system that as turned Earth into “an immense pile of filth.”
Sept. 8, 2015: Overhauls the annulment process to make
it faster, cheaper and easier for divorced Catholics to remarry in the church.
Feb. 18, 2016: Prays for dead migrants at the
U.S.-Mexico border, later says then-presidential candidate Donald Trump is “not
a Christian” for wanting to build a border wall.
April 16, 2016: Visits a refugee camp in Lesbos,
Greece, and brings 12 Syrian Muslims to Rome aboard his papal plane in an
appeal for solidarity toward migrants.
April 12, 2018: Admits to “grave errors” in judgment
in Chile’s sex abuse scandal.
Aug. 3, 2018: Declares capital punishment
“inadmissible” under all circumstances in a change to official church teaching.
Feb. 4, 2019: Signs the “Human Fraternity” document
with the imam of Al Azhar, establishing collaborative relations between
Catholics and Muslims.
Feb. 16, 2019: Defrocks Cardinal Theodore McCarrick
after Vatican investigation finds he sexually abused minors and adults.
Feb. 12, 2020: Declines to approve ordination of
married men as priests.
March 5-8, 2021: Becomes first pope to visit Iraq,
meeting with its top Shiite Muslim cleric.
March 29, 2023: Is admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital
for respiratory infection; is released April 1.
June 7, 2023: Undergoes surgery to remove intestinal
scar tissue and repair a hernia in the abdominal wall.
Oct. 4, 2023: Opens a synod on making the church more
responsive to ordinary faithful during which women are allowed to vote
alongside bishops for the first time.
Dec. 19, 2023: Approves blessings for same-sex couples
provided they don’t resemble marriage, sparking fierce opposition from
conservative bishops in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.
Sept. 10, 2024: Some 600,000 people, half of East
Timor’s population, attend Francis’ Mass in Dili in what is believed to be
the biggest turnout for a papal event in terms of the proportion of the
population.
Feb. 14, 2025: Is hospitalized after a bout of
bronchitis worsens and then develops into a complex lung infection and double
pneumonia.
March 23, 2025: Is released from the hospital after 38
days of treatment but looks weak and frail.
April 20, 2025: Imparts the Easter Urbi et Orbi
blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, then surprises the
35,000 faithful with a long ride in the popemobile, in what would
become his final goodbye to the faithful.
April 21, 2025: Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the
camerlengo, announces from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where
Francis lived that the pope died at 7:35 a.m.
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