163 Facts About Pope Francis

Pope Francis was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969; from 1973 to 1979, he was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina.

Pope Francis led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina; the administrations of Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner considered him to be a political rival.

Pope Francis chose Francis as his papal name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Pope Francis is known for having a less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors by, for instance, choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guest house rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by previous popes.

Pope Francis has made women full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia.

Pope Francis maintains that the Catholic Church should be more sympathetic toward members of the LGBTQ community, and has stated that while blessings of same-sex unions are not permitted, the individuals can be blessed as long as blessings are not given in a liturgical context.

Pope Francis is a critic of unbridled capitalism, consumerism, and overdevelopment; he has made action on climate change a leading focus of his papacy.

Pope Francis is widely interpreted as denouncing the death penalty as intrinsically evil, stating that the Catholic Church is committed to its abolition.

In international diplomacy, Pope Francis has criticized the rise of right-wing populism, called for the decriminalization of homosexuality, helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, negotiated a deal with China to define how much influence the Communist Party has in appointing Chinese bishops, and has supported the cause of refugees.

Pope Francis has called protection of migrants a "duty of civilization" and criticized anti-immigration politics, including those of US President Donald Trump.

Pope Francis convened the Synod on Synodality which was described as the culmination of his papacy and the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.

Pope Francis was born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936 in Flores, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.

Pope Francis was the eldest of five children from Mario Jose Bergoglio and Regina Maria Sivori.

Pope Francis's niece, Cristina Bergoglio, is a painter based in Madrid, Spain.

Pope Francis then studied at the archdiocesan seminary, Inmaculada Concepcion Seminary, in Villa Devoto, Buenos Aires, and, after three years, entered the Society of Jesus as a novice on 11 March 1958.

Pope Francis then taught literature and psychology at the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion, a high school in Santa Fe, from 1964 to 1965.

Pope Francis served as the master of novices for the province there and became a professor of theology.

Pope Francis was named provincial superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina that July for a six-year term which ended in 1979.

Pope Francis then served at San Miguel for six years until 1986 when, at the discretion of Jesuit superior-general Peter Hans Kolvenbach, he was replaced by someone more in tune with the worldwide trend in the Society of Jesus toward emphasizing social justice rather than his emphasis on popular religiosity and direct pastoral work.

Pope Francis returned to Argentina earlier than expected to serve as a confessor and spiritual director to the Jesuit community in Cordoba.

Pope Francis defended Podesta's wife from Vatican attacks on their marriage.

Pope Francis remained a member of that commission's permanent governing body, the president of its committee for the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, and a member of its liturgy committee for the care of shrines.

Pope Francis was a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; the Congregation for the Clergy; the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; the Pontifical Council for the Family; and the Commission for Latin America.

Pope Francis participated as a cardinal elector in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis sometimes made appearances at the annual gathering known as the Rimini Meeting held during the late summer months in Italy.

Pope Francis feared for the priests' safety and had tried to change their work prior to their arrest; contrary to reports, he did not try to throw them out of the Jesuit order.

Two days after the election of Pope Francis, Jalics issued a statement confirming the kidnapping and attributing the cause to a former lay colleague who became a guerrilla, was captured, then named Yorio and Jalics when interrogated.

Since Francis became pope, Gonzalo Mosca and Jose Caravias have related accounts to journalists of how Bergoglio helped them flee the dictatorship.

Milei visited the Vatican on 11 February 2024, the day Pope Francis canonized Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, the first female Argentine saint.

Pope Francis is the first from the Americas, and the first from the Southern Hemisphere.

Pope Francis is conversant in Latin, French, Portuguese, and English; he understands Piedmontese and some Genoese Ligurian.

Pope Francis chose not to live in the official papal residence in the Apostolic Palace but instead remains in the Vatican guest house in a suite in which he can receive visitors and hold meetings.

Pope Francis is the first pope since Pope Pius X to live outside the papal apartments.

Pope Francis still appears at the window of the Apostolic Palace for the Sunday Angelus.

Pope Francis has been altering the culture of the clergy, steering away from what he has named as "clericalism" and toward an ethic of service.

Pope Francis wore the same iron pectoral cross that he had worn as archbishop of Buenos Aires, rather than the gold one worn by his predecessors.

Pope Francis held his papal inauguration on 19 March 2013 in St Peter's Square.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the presence of political and religious leaders from around the world.

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

Pope Francis explained that, as it was becoming clear during the conclave voting that he would be elected, the Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes had embraced him and whispered, "Don't forget the poor", which made Bergoglio think of the saint.

Pope Francis's name would become Francis I if and when there is a Francis II.

Pope Francis said that some cardinal electors had jokingly suggested to him that he should choose either "Adrian", since Adrian VI had been a reformer of the church, or "Clement", to settle the score with Clement XIV who had suppressed the Jesuit order.

On 13 April 2013, Pope Francis named eight cardinals to a new Council of Cardinal Advisers to advise him on revising the organizational structure of the Roman Curia.

On 31 March 2013, Pope Francis used his first Easter homily to make a plea for world peace, specifically mentioning the Middle East, Africa, and North and South Korea.

Pope Francis spoke out against those who give in to "easy gain" in a world filled with greed and made a plea for humanity to become a better guardian of creation by protecting the environment.

Pope Francis has overseen synods on the family, on youth, and on the church in the Amazon region.

On 4 October 2023, Pope Francis convened the beginnings of the Synod on Synodality, described by some as the culmination of his papacy and one of the most important events in the Church since the Second Vatican Council.

Pope Francis appointed a commission to advise him about reform of the Bank, and the finance consulting firm Promontory Financial Group was assigned to carry out a comprehensive investigation of all customer contacts.

In January 2014, Pope Francis replaced four of the five cardinal overseers of the Vatican Bank who had been confirmed in their positions in the final days of Benedict XVI's papacy.

Moneyval feels more reform is needed, and Pope Francis has shown some willingness to close the bank if the reforms prove too difficult.

Pope Francis has written a variety of books, encyclicals, and other texts, including a memoir, Hope.

On 29 June 2013, Pope Francis published the encyclical Lumen fidei, which was largely the work of Benedict XVI but awaited a final draft at his retirement.

On 24 November 2013, Francis published his first major letter as pope, the apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium, which he described as the programmatic of his papacy.

On 8 April 2016, Pope Francis published his second apostolic exhortation, Amoris laetitia, remarking on love within the family.

On 4 October 2020, Pope Francis published the encyclical Fratelli tutti on fraternity and social friendship.

On 8 December 2020, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis published the apostolic letter Patris corde.

On 1 June 2021, Pope Francis published the apostolic constitution Pascite gregem Dei.

Pope Francis upheld the Second Vatican Council's tradition by promoting ecumenism with other Christian denominations, encouraging dialogue with other religions, and supporting peace with secular individuals.

In January 2014, Pope Francis said that he would appoint fewer monsignors and only assign those honoured to the lowest of the three surviving ranks of monsignor, chaplain of His Holiness; it would be awarded only to diocesan priests at least 65 years old.

Saints the Pope Francis canonized include Louis Martin and Marie-Azelie Guerin, Mother Teresa, and Oscar Romero.

Pope Francis canonized three of his predecessors: John XXIII, John Paul II and Paul VI.

Pope Francis declared two new Doctors of the Church: Saint Gregory of Narek in 2015, and Saint Irenaeus of Lyon in 2022.

Pope Francis held his first consistory in February 2014, a rare occasion in which he publicly appeared with his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis appointed many cardinals from developing countries, including some of the world's poorest, and from countries on the peripheries of the church.

Pope Francis dropped the traditional custom of always appointing the archbishops of certain historically prominent sees as cardinals.

Pope Francis established the World Day of the Poor in his Apostolic Letter, Misericordia et Misera, issued on 20 November 2016 to celebrate the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

Pope Francis encouraged priests to visit patients and health workers; urged the faithful not to forget the poor during the time of crisis; offered prayers for people with the virus in China; and invoked the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title Salus Populi Romani, as the Diocese of Rome observed a period of prayer and fasting in recognition of the victims.

On 20 March 2020, Pope Francis asked the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to create a Vatican COVID-19 Commission to listen to concerns and develop responses for the future.

Pope Francis maintained that getting COVID vaccination was a moral obligation.

Pope Francis has committed the Catholic Church to support worldwide abolition of the death penalty.

Pope Francis has categorically rejected the ordination of women as priests.

Pope Francis delayed a decision on the issue for several years.

In January 2021, Pope Francis issued a Spiritus Domini, allowing bishops to institute women to the ministries of acolyte and lector.

Pope Francis wrote that these ministries are fundamentally distinct from those reserved to ordained clergy.

Pope Francis stated he is determined to end corruption in the Catholic Church but is not very optimistic due to it being a human problem dating back centuries.

Early in 2022, Pope Francis expressed "shame and sorrow" for the Catholic Church's role in abuses against the Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Late, in July 2022, Pope Francis made an apostolic journey to Canada, where he expressed sorrow, indignation, and shame over the church's abuse of Canadian Indigenous children in residential schools.

Pope Francis promised a serious investigation into the history of abuse.

In 2018, Pope Francis acknowledged he had made "grave errors" in judgement about Barros, apologized to the victims and launched a Vatican investigation that resulted in the resignation of three Chilean bishops: Barros, Gonzalo Duarte, and Cristian Caro.

In July 2018, McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals; in October 2018, Pope Francis ordered a review of the Church's "institutional knowledge and decision-making" related to McCarrick.

Pope Francis authorized the release, in November 2020, of the report of the Vatican's two-year investigation into McCarrick's career.

Pope Francis thanked journalists for "helping us not to sweep it under the carpet, and for the voice you have given to the abuse victims".

Pope Francis did not deprive Ricard of his status and privileges as a cardinal.

Pope Francis visited Ireland in 2018, marking the first papal tour of the country since John Paul II's historic trip in 1979.

On 20 November 2024, Pope Francis modified papal funeral rites in order to make his funeral rites similar to that of a bishop.

Pope Francis modified the papal burial requirements to no longer include the traditional three coffins of cypress, lead, and oak, opting to instead be buried in a simple wooden casket.

Pope Francis will be the first Pope since Leo XIII to be buried outside the Vatican.

Pope Francis has a "great devotion" to the Salus populi Romani icon kept there.

In Evangelii gaudium, Pope Francis revealed what would be the emphases of his pontificate: a missionary impulse among all Catholics, sharing the faith more actively, avoiding worldliness by more visibly living the gospel of God's mercy, and helping the poor and working for social justice.

From his first major letter Evangelii gaudium, Pope Francis called for "a missionary and pastoral conversion" whereby the laity would fully share in the missionary task of the church.

Pope Francis called for decentralization of governance away from Rome and for a synodal manner of decision-making in dialogue with the people.

Pope Francis strongly opposed clericalism and made women full members of the church's dicasteries in Rome.

Pope Francis's naming was an early indication of how he shared Pope Francis of Assisi's care for all of creation.

In October 2023, in advance to the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Pope Francis issued the apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, in which he called for decisive action to against the climate crisis and condemned climate change denial.

At the 2017 World Food Day ceremony, Pope Francis highlighted the daily impacts of climate change and the solutions provided by scientific knowledge.

Pope Francis pointed out that while the international community has established legal frameworks such as the Paris Agreement, some nations have been withdrawing.

Pope Francis then expressed concern over a renewed indifference to ecosystem balance, the belief in controlling limited resources, and a greed for profit.

In 2024, Pope Francis organized a climate summit that issued a Planetary Protocol for Climate Change Resilience including three main pillars: greenhouse gas emissions reduction, climate change adaptation, and societal transformation.

In 2024, while meeting with representatives of the Dialop group, a discussion group between Christians and Marxists, Pope Francis stated that Marxists and Christians have a common mission.

In September 2024, Pope Francis renewed calls for a universal basic income, as well as higher taxes on billionaires.

Pope Francis has marked a significantly more accommodative tone on LGBT topics than his predecessors.

In other public statements, Pope Francis has emphasised the need to accept, welcome, and accompany LGBT people, including LGBT children.

Pope Francis reiterated traditional Catholic teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman but has supported same-sex civil unions as legal protections for same-sex couples.

In 2013, Pope Francis was named as Person of the Year by The Advocate, an American LGBT magazine.

Relative to LGB topics, Pope Francis has been less accommodative on transgender topics.

Pope Francis described gender theory and children's education on gender-affirming surgery as "ideological colonization".

Pope Francis has regularly been accused by conservatives of having a "soft spot" for leftist populist movements.

Since 2016, Pope Francis has been contrasted with US president Donald Trump, with some conservative critics drawing comparisons between the two.

Pope Francis has sought peace in the crisis without picking a side.

Pope Francis continued the Vatican's longstanding diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China, rather than the People's Republic of China; Vatican City is one of just 12 countries to formally recognize Taiwan.

In 2018 Pope Francis approved a provisional Vatican-China agreement intended to normalize the situation of China's Catholics who numbered approximately 10 million as of 2024.

Pope Francis's efforts toward rapprochement with China were highly controversial; a leading critic, Cardinal Joseph Zen, said the 2018 agreement was a step toward the "annihilation" of the Catholic Church in China.

Pope Francis has defended the Vatican's dialogue with China on the appointment of new bishops, saying in 2021 that uneasy dialogue was better than no dialogue at all.

In November 2020, Pope Francis named China's Uyghur minority among a list of the world's persecuted peoples.

In July 2017, a group of conservative clergy, academics, and laymen signed a document labelled as a "Filial Correction" of Francis, which criticized the Pope for promoting what it described as seven heretical propositions through various words, actions, and omissions during his pontificate.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider claims that Pope Francis clarified to him that he was referring to "the permissive will of God".

In July 2021, Pope Francis issued, motu proprio, the apostolic letter titled Traditionis custodes, which reversed the decision of his predecessor Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum and imposed new restrictions on the use of the Traditional Latin Mass.

When Pope Francis was archbishop of Buenos Aires, he authored a text entitled "Dialogues Between John Paul II and Fidel Castro".

The Pope Francis, along with the Government of Canada, was a behind-the-scenes broker of the agreement, taking the role following President Obama's request during his visit to the Pope Francis in March 2014.

En route to the United States for a visit in September 2015, the Pope Francis stopped in Cuba.

In May 2014, Pope Francis visited Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Pope Francis visited Bethlehem, where he gave a speech alongside Abbas, and celebrated Mass at the Church of the Nativity.

In May 2021, amid clashes in Jerusalem, Pope Francis reiterated calls for peace between Israel and Palestinians during his Regina caeli address.

Pope Francis has communicated with the sole parish of Gaza daily since the start of the war.

In November 2024, Pope Francis suggested that the international community should investigate whether Israel's campaign in Gaza is a genocide of the Palestinian people.

Pope Francis made the plight of refugees and migrants "a core component of his pastoral work" and has defended their rights in dialogue both with Europe and with the United States.

In line with this policy, Pope Francis has criticized neo-nationalists and populists who reject the acceptance of refugees.

Pope Francis wrote what has been described as "an extraordinary and excoriating response to US bishops".

Pope Francis cited the parable of the Good Samaritan, described the ordo amoris as the love that "builds a fraternity open to all, without exception" and criticised the focus on solely family, community or national identity as "[introducing] an ideological criterion that distorts social life and imposes the will of the strongest".

In January 2017, Pope Francis demanded the resignation of Matthew Festing, the 79th Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

The Pope Francis's demand was a response to Festing and Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke dismissing Baron Albrecht von Boeselager from his position in the Order of Malta.

Pope Francis called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to express "sorrow" as the Vatican worked to find "room for negotiation" to end the war.

The day after the invasion began in February 2022, Pope Francis assured Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the major archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, that "he would do everything he can to help end the Ukraine conflict".

Pope Francis's stances were rooted in part in his hope that the Vatican could broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, a possibility that analysts viewed as extremely unlikely.

In March 2022, Pope Francis consecrated both Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Pope Francis said in April 2023, during a trip to Budapest, that he was working on a secret "mission" to bring peace and return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

Pope Francis condemned the persecution of Christians by ISIL and supported the use of force to stop Islamic militants from attacking religious minorities in Iraq.

In January 2018, Pope Francis met Yazidi refugees in Europe, expressed his support for their right to religious freedom, and called upon the international community "not to remain a silent and unresponsive spectator" to the Yazidi genocide.

In February 2019, Pope Francis visited Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the invitation of Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In March 2021, Pope Francis held a historic meeting with Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and visited Ur, a site traditionally identified as the birthplace of the prophet Abraham.

In September 2024, Pope Francis visited Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population, where he attended inter-religious dialogue in Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta and was welcomed by the Grand Imam, Dr Nasaruddin Umar.

Pope Francis was the first pontiff to participate in the G7, a meeting of leaders of the largest economies in the world.

Pope Francis stated that the excessive use of artificial intelligence is posing a risk to jobs, and remarked on reproductive practices without specifically mentioning abortion.

In September 2015, Pope Francis visited the United Nations Headquarters in New York City where he addressed the UN General Assembly; following his speech, he visited the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

In June 2023, Francis issued an address to the UN Security Council while recovering from abdominal surgery; the statement was read by Vatican official Paul Gallagher on the Pope's behalf.

Pope Francis has frequently been depicted as a progressive or liberal moderate.

In 2014, the Vatican criticized some Italian news agencies, as well as the Agence France-Presse, for reporting on certain remarks Francis has made as suggestive of an opening toward acceptance of same-sex marriage or civil unions; a Vatican spokesperson said the pope's remark had been taken out of context.

Pope Francis is a frequent user of landline telephones; he reportedly has never owned a computer or mobile phone.

Pope Francis was included in Forbes lists of most powerful people in the world in 2014 and 2016.

In March 2013, a new song was dedicated to Pope Francis and released in Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, and Italian, titled Come Puoi.

In 2016, Francis became the first pope to create an Instagram account.

Pope Francis broke records after having gained over one million followers in under 12 hours of the account being up.

On 26 November 2020, Francis became the first pope to write an op-ed for The New York Times, addressing issues such as COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings and the need for global solidarity.

The Pope Francis has suffered from chronic lung damage, due in part to the lung excision he had as a young man.

In June 2022, after undergoing treatment to his knee, Pope Francis canceled planned trips to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

In March 2023, Pope Francis was hospitalized in Rome with a respiratory infection.

Pope Francis returned to celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday.

Pope Francis has publicly used a wheelchair since 2022, initially due to persistent knee pain which required an operation.

On 14 February 2025, Pope Francis entered Gemelli Hospital in Rome due to bronchitis.

Pope Francis's hospital stay was extended due to a polymicrobial infection of his respiratory tract and bilateral pneumonia.

The Vatican disclosed that Pope Francis had suffered two episodes of "acute respiratory insufficiency".

Pope Francis appear in public for the first time since the hospitalization on April 6,2025.

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word is a documentary film co-written and directed by Wim Wenders.