Faith
Defining images of the first Latin American to lead the Catholic Church “Pope Francis”
Pope Francis has died after leading the Roman Catholic Church for more than a decade. His last public appearance was on the balcony of the Vatican’s St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday to wish “Happy Easter” to thousands of worshippers.
The Pope, in a wheelchair, waved to cheering crowds in St Peter’s Square below.
A no-frills Pope who was determined to make the Church more inclusive – here are some of the most striking images from the 88-year-old’s life and papacy. (Image source, Remo Casilli/Reuters)
Pope Francis (C) shakes the hands of children upon his arrival to the Central Mosque in the PK5 neighborhood on November 30, 2015 in Bangui. Pope Francis on November 30 said Christians and Muslims were “brothers”, urging them to reject hatred and violence on a visit to a mosque in a flashpoint Muslim neighbourhood of the Central African Republic’s capital Bangui. AFP PHOTO / GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP / GIANLUIGI GUERCIA (Photo credit should read GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP via Getty Images)
Pope Francis leads a mass at the Roman parish of San Gelasio in Rome, Italy, February 25, 2018. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Francis presides over a Mass with devotees at the National Stadium in Singapore, September 12, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
Francis was already in his seventies when he became Pope in 2013, replacing the retiring Benedict XVI.
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – SEPTEMBER 28: Pope Francis (R) greets Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as he arrives at St. Peter’s Basilica during a celebration for grandparents and the elderly on September 28, 2014, in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Sunday morning in St Peter’s Square, following a special encounter with elderly persons. In his homily, the Holy Father said, the Elderly are key to the health of a free society. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – JANUARY 05: Pope Francis attends the funeral mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at St. Peter’s square on January 5, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican. Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was born in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany in 1927. He became Pope Benedict XVI, serving as head of the Catholic Church and the sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation, due to ill health, on 28 February 2013. He succeeded Pope John Paul II and was succeeded by the current Pope Francis. He died on 31 December 2022 aged 95 at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Francis’s papacy broke new ground in many other ways – he was the first Jesuit and the first Latin American pontiff.
Humble beginnings
He was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 17 December 1936 – the eldest of five children. His parents had fled their native Italy to escape fascism. Growing up in a working-class family, his early life was marked by simplicity and a commitment to his faith. As a young man, Bergoglio worked as a nightclub bouncer and floor sweeper, and supported his local football club, San Lorenzo de Almagro, a passion he maintained long after he became a priest in 1969.
BUENOS AIRES, CAP. FED. – UNDATED: – In this undated collect photograph courtesy of the Jesuit General Curia in Rome, newly named priest Jose Mario Bergoglio poses with his family (top row, 2nd from left) for a portrait, in the picture also his sister Maria Elena (1st left), in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, making him the first pope ever from the Americas. The Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, ordained for the Jesuits on 1969 at the Theological faculty of San Miguel was elected as Pope Francis on March 13, 2013 as the first ever Jesuit pontiff. The Society of Jesus, founded in 1540 by the Spanish Ignatius of Loyola’s, is a Christian male religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations and on six continents. Jesuits operate in education (founding schools, colleges, universities and seminaries), intellectual research and cultural pursuits. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
The young clergyman won swift promotion, in 1973 becoming the de facto leader of Argentina’s jesuits, a highly influential Catholic order of missionaries and educators.
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – MARCH 31: Pope Francis is given a San Lorenzo’s shirt, the Buenos Aires football team as he greets the faithful prior to his first ‘Urbi et Orbi’ blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica during Easter Mass on March 31, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Francis delivered his message to the gathered faithful from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in St. Peter’s Square after his first Holy week as Pontiff. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
San Lorenzo Club BUENOS AIRES (ARGENTINA), Photos given by the San Lorenzo Futbol Club, Jorge Bergoglio is associated and fan of the club. (Photo by API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Bergoglio’s leadership was defined by his dedication to social justice and support for the marginalised.
But he was accused by some of not doing enough to oppose the generals of the brutal military dictatorship that governed Argentina between 1976 and 1983 – especially after the military kidnapped two priests.
Bergoglio explained that speaking out was difficult in such dangerous times and the Vatican has denied he was guilty of any wrongdoing during the period.
Rise to the top
In 1998, Bergoglio was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires, where he gained a reputation for his pastoral care, humility and outreach to the poor. Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 2001.
He refused many of the trappings of his office – often choosing to wear the black gown of a priest rather than the red and purple of his new position, travelling by public transport and engaging directly with the community.
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – FEBRUARY 21: Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyła) names Jorge Mario Bergoglio as cardinal during a consistory in St. Peter’s Square on February 21, 2001 in Vatican City, Vatican. Bergoglio was elected Pope on 13 March 2013, the second day of the 2013 papal conclave, taking the papal name Francis. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – MARCH 12: (Editor note: A fisheye lens has been used for this picture) Cardinals attend the Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice Mass at St Peter’s Basilica, before they enter the conclave to decide who the next pope will be, on March 12, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. Cardinals are set to enter the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI after he became the first pope in 600 years to resign from the role. The conclave is scheduled to start on March 12 inside the Sistine Chapel and will be attended by 115 cardinals as they vote to select the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
And by the 2005 conclave that followed Pope John Paul II’s death he was seen as a contender for the papacy – although he would not become Pope until eight years later.
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – MARCH 13: Newly elected Pope Francis I appears on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on March 13, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the 266th Pontiff and will lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
On 13 March 2013, Pope Francis emerged on the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square.
Clad simply in white, he bore a new name paying homage to St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the environment, animals and birds.
From the start, Pope Francis emphasised simplicity and service. He took the bus home with the other cardinals instead of using the papal limousine. “Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor,” he remarked.
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – JUNE 23: Pope Francis greets Mattia Villardita, a young man in the Spider-Man costume who makes children smile in the pediatric wards of hospitals, during his general audience at the courtyard of San Damaso on June 23, 2021 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
TOPSHOT – Pope Francis (C) waves as he arrives by popemobile for the holy mass at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan, on February 5, 2023. – Pope Francis wraps up his pilgrimage to South Sudan with an open-air mass on February 5, 2023, after urging its leaders to focus on bringing peace to the fragile country torn apart by violence and poverty.
The three-day trip is the first papal visit to the largely Christian country since it achieved independence from Sudan in 2011 and plunged into a civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people. (Photo by Simon MAINA / AFP) (Photo by SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images)
Pope Francis leads a special audience for the faithful of the dioceses of Cesena and Bologna in Saint Peter’s square at the Vatican March 21, 2018. Osservatore Romano/Handout via Reuters ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Source: BBC
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