Pope Francis — born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina — joined the Society of Jesus in 1958. He was ordained in 1969 at the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel, a Jesuit university and seminary in Buenos Aires.
Picture: Jesuit General Curia / Getty Images
Bergoglio was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992 and he became Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998.
Picture: STR / AFP / Getty Images
Pope John Paul II named Bergoglio as a cardinal during a consistory in St Peter's Square on February 21, 2001, in the Vatican City.
Picture: Angelo Carconi / Pool / AP
Pope Benedict XVI meets the man who would later succeed him, Cardinal Bergoglio, at the Vatican on January 13, 2007.
Picture: AFP / GETTY
Cardinal Bergoglio was elected as pope on March 13, 2013. He chose the name Francis, becoming the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Here, he waves to the waiting crowd from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. Francis was the first Jesuit pope and the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere.
Picture: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis looks at the crowd from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica on the day he became the pontiff.
Picture: AP Photo / L'Osservatore Romano,
Pope Francis waves from the Popemobile on his way to attend the Via Crucis on Copacabana Beach during the World Youth Day celebrations on July 26, 2013, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. More than three million attended the Catholic celebration.
Picture: Buda Mendes / Getty Images
Pope Francis was named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2013. Time said the Catholic Church's new leader had changed the perception of his organisation in an extraordinary way in a short time.
Picture: AP
Pope Francis meets Argentina football legend Diego Maradona during an audience with the players before the Interreligious Match For Peace at Olimpico Stadium on September 1, 2014, in Rome.
Picture: Pier Marco Tacca / Getty Images
Pope Francis laughs as he meets with newly married couples at the end of his weekly general audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall on January 28, 2015, at the Vatican.
Picture: Vicenzo Pinto / AFP
Pope Francis meets migrants at the Moria detention centre on April 16, 2016 in Mytilene, Lesbos, Greece.
Picture: Getty Images
At the 2016 World Youth Day event in Poland, Pope Francis visited the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Picture: Filippo Monteforte / AFP
Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr John Buckley receiving a presentation from Pope Francis when he met the pontiff.
Picture: Supplied
During a visit to Italy in May 2017, President Michael D Higgins met with the Pope in the Vatican. They discussed "issues of mutual concern" including migration, climate change and global poverty.
Picture: Maxwell Photography
In August 2018, Pope Francis made a historic two-day visit to Ireland as part of the Catholic Church's World Meeting of Families. It was the first papal visit to the country since 1979. The above photo shows the communion procession taking place during the closing mass of the visit at Phoenix Park.
Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Upon Pope Francis's arrival in Ireland for the two-day event, he was greeted at Dublin Airport by then - tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney, his wife Ruth and their three daughters: Beth (9), Jessica (7) and Annalise (5). Pictured is Jessica, handing flowers to Pope Francis.
Picture: Julien Behal
Then-taoiseach Leo Varadkar greets Pope Francis in St Patricks Hall in Dublin Castle. Pope Francis said he shared in the "shame and pain" of the Catholic Church's "failure" to deal with years of sexual abuse scandals as he began the visit.
Picture: NIall Carson / Pool / Getty Images
Pope Francis greets attendees during the Festival of Families at Croke Park. The event marked the official arrival of the pope at the World Meeting of Families. An estimated 82,500 people attended the event which saw Irish dancing, classical music, children’s choirs as well as testimonies given by families from across the globe.
Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
During the visit, Pope Francis also visited Knock Shrine, Co Mayo, where he addressed the around 45,000 people who attended. The Shrine is a revered site in Catholicism after an apparition of the Virgin Mary occurred there in 1879. Pictured are pilgrims waiting for the pope's arrival
Picture: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Members of the public wave flags at Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo.
Picture: Damien Eagers
The wind blows up Pope Francis's cassock during a prayer service at Knock Shrine.
Picture: Eamon Ward
Pope Francis meets with pilgrims at Knock Shrine.
Picture: Maxwell Photography
Pope Francis lights a candle at Knock Shrine.
Picture: Ciro Fusco / POOL / AFP
The closing mass of the World Meeting of Families saw the conclusion of the pope's visit to Ireland. Pope Francis greeted those in the crowd ahead of the service.
Picture: Brian Lawless / PA Wire
The communion procession takes place during the Phoenix Park Mass. It centred on the Papal Cross in Phoenix Park, which was the site of Pope John Paul II's historic 1979 Papal Mass.
Picture: Brendan Moran / Sportsfile
A close-up of Pope Francis saying the Mass at the Phoenix Park.
Picture: Danny Lawson / PA Wire
A congregation of approximately 500,000 people were expected to attend the Mass. However, the number of people who turned out fell short of that due to poor weather, the amount of walking from the park entrance to standing positions and a ban on mobility scooters and large prams.
Picture: Matt Cardy / Getty Images
A group of nuns arrive to see Pope Francis attend the closing mass. During the service, the Pope vowed to pursue justice for victims of church abuse in Ireland.
Picture: Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
A woman in Phoenix Park holds a statue of Pope Francis at the Mass.
Picture: Brian Lawless / PA Wire
Some of the crowd who attended the Phoenix Park Mass. The Pope ended his historic visit to the country by seeking forgiveness for its dark litany of clerical crimes.
Picture: Maxwells Photography
The Mass was attended by a number of clergy who are seen here taking their places while awaiting Pope Francis arrives.
Picture: WMOF18 / Maxwell Photography / PA Wire
As he prepares to depart Ireland, Pope Francis says goodbye to Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin at Dublin Airport.
Picture: Maxwells Photography
Pope Francis waves to the gathered crowd as he prepares to return to the Vatican, putting an end to his visit to Ireland.
Picture: Joe Giddens / PA Wire
Pope Francis stands with US president Donald Trump (centre right), First Lady Melania Trump (centre left) and Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump (left) during a private audience at the Vatican on May 24, 2017. That was the first face-to-face encounter between the pope and Mr Trump, who clashed on several issues.
Picture: Allesandra Tarantino / AFP / Getty Images
Pope Francis delivers his blessing from his window at the end of the Regina Coeli noon prayer, in St Peter's Square, at the Vatican. It was taken on May 24, 2020, at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. It was the first time in months that people could gather in St Peter’s Square for the traditional Sunday papal blessing. The square had been closed due to lockdown measures.
Picture: Vatican News / AP
Pope Francis celebrates Mass during the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on June 29, 2020. Francis also blessed the Pallia for the metropolitan archbishops appointed during the year.
Picture: Angelo Carconi / Pool / AP
Pope Francis prays with priests during the covid pandemic. This photo was taken at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in the Vatican on September 30, 2020.
Picture: Filippo Monteforte / AFP
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who retired in 2013, greets Pope Francis as he pays him a visit after the Consistory on November 28, 2020. The Consistory is a meeting of the College of Cardinals and 13 new cardinals were elected at the meeting.
Picture: Vatican Media / AP
A man dressed as the comic book character Spider-Man — who performs in hospitals for sick children — hands a Spider-Man mask to Pope Francis as they meet at the end of the weekly general audience on June 23, 2021, at San Damaso courtyard in the Vatican.
Picture: Alberto Pizzoli / AFP
President Michael D Higgins meets Pope Francis once again during a visit to Rome, this time on September 17, 2021. President Higgins presented the pope with a special ‘Fisherman’s Stick’ made on Inis Mór by artist Lochlainn Cullen. The stick is made of blackthorn wood, grown and crafted on the island, and adorned with cotton knots.
Picture: Maxwell Photography
Former US president Joe Biden shakes hands with Pope Francis as they meet at the Vatican on October 29, 2021.
Picture: Vatican Media via AP
A nun waits prior to the funeral mass of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at St Peter's Square in the Vatican, on January 5, 2023. Pope Francis presided over the funeral of his predecessor, an unprecedented event in modern times.
Picture: Tiziana Fabi / AFP
Pope Francis pauses during an interview with The Associated Press at the Vatican, on January 24, 2023. Pope Francis said he hasn't even considered issuing norms to regulate future papal resignations and says he plans to continue on for as long as he can as bishop of Rome, despite a wave of attacks against him by some top-ranked cardinals and bishops.
Picture: Domenico Stinellis / AP
At the World Youth Day in August 2023, Pope Francis held a meeting with authorities, civil society, and the diplomatic corps at the Belem district's cultural centre in Lisbon, Portugal, during a five-day visit at the gathering of young Catholics. Then 86, the pope had undergone major abdominal surgery just two months previously, but that had not stopped an event-packed 42nd trip abroad, with 11 speeches and around 20 meetings scheduled.
Picture: Marco Bertorello / AFP
Crowds gather as Pope Francis presides over a mass on World Children's Day at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on May 26, 2024.
Picture: Filippo Monteforte / AFP
On June 14, 2024, Pope Francis met with more than 100 comedians from around the world, encouraging them to use their powerful gift of humour to spread laughter “in the midst of so much gloomy news”. The group included Irish comics Tommy Tiernan, Ardal O'Hanlon and Patrick Kielty. The picture shows the pope enjoying a light-hearted moment with a group of comedians including US stars Stephen Colbert, Chris Rock and Jimmy Fallon.
Picture: Vatican Media via Vatican Pool
Pope Francis meets with a group of Mexicans dressed as Aztecs during a weekly general audience on August 7, 2024, at the Vatican.
Picture: Alberto Pizzoli / AFP
Pope Francis greets the crowd at the end of a mass for the opening of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, on October 2, 2024, at St Peter's Square in the Vatican.
Picture: Alberto Pizzoli / AFP
Pope Francis holds the hand of a toddler as he salutes people at the end of his weekly general audience in the Vatican on February 12, 2025. Two days later, on February 14, he would be admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital following a bout of bronchitis.
Picture: Alessandra Tarantino / AP
Pope Francis poses with nuns at the end of the weekly general audience on February 12, 2025.
Picture: Filippo Monteforte / Pool / AFP
Irish Examiner Longread
Copyright Irish Examiner.
Design Jim Coughlan/Tiernan King/ Ivan Rodriguez
If you enjoyed this immersive read, you may also like these
