Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
5 facts about Pope Francis
5 facts about Pope Francis
Oct 29, 2025 5:09 PM

Five years ago today, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina was elected as the 266th pope of the Catholic Church. Here are five facts you should know about Pope Francis on his fifth anniversary.

1. Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires in 1936. His father, an Italian immigrant, was an accountant and his mother was a homemaker. He had two brothers and two sisters.Chosen at the age of 76, Francis is the ninth oldest pope of those elected after 1295. (Benedict, who was elected at the age of 78, was fifth oldest.) He took the name “Francis” in honor ofSaint Francis of Assisi.

2. Francis is the first Jesuit pope and the first pope from South America. (The only remaining continents that have never had a e from their lands are Australia, Antarctica, and North America.) He wasthe first non-European pope in 1,000 years.

3.He studied and received a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires, but later decided to e a Jesuit priest and studied liberal arts at the Catholic seminary in Santiago, Chile.

4. He only hasone lung. His other lung was removed due to infection when he was a teenager.

5. Francis is known for hispersonal simplicity. In Argentina he lived in a simple apartment rather than the archbishop’s palace, cooked his own meals, and gave up his chauffeured limousine in favor of taking the bus to work. At the Vatican, Francis rejected the typical papal apartment for the less formal St. Martha’s House, where he lives among fellow priests. He reportedly used to drive around the Vatican grounds in a1984 Renault 4 that had 190,000 miles on the odometer when it was donated by a priest.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Sanctimony Vs. Science
If one were to pinpoint the epicenter of sanctimonious behavior the past two weeks, he or she look no further than Paris. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, or COP21) has been a magnet for shareholder activists, nuns, clergy and other religious intent on furthering agendas ostensibly geared toward mitigating manmade global warming, but in reality promote hardship and energy poverty across the economic spectrum. Mind you, this writer grew up under the tutelage of nuns, and...
5 Facts About the Bill of Rights
Today is Bill of Rights Day, memoration first established byPresident Franklin D. Rooseveltto cherish the ‘immeasurable privileges which the charter guaranteed’ and to rededicate its principles and practice.” Here are five facts you should know about the Bill of Rights: 1. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, George Mason of Virginia said that he “wished the plan had been prefaced by a Bill of Rights,” because it would “give great quiet” to the people. A motion was made that mittee...
Cast your vote now for the worst Christmas song — ever
OK, this is going to be a tough call. But Acton Research Fellow Jordan Ballor has bravely stepped up with his nominee for the “Worst Christmas Song Ever” in a piece for Patheos. His pick? Band Aid’s syrupy “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” Ballor reminds us that the song … … was released in 1984 as part of Band Aid, an effort organized by Bob Geldof in response to a famine that struck the east African nation of Ethiopia. The...
Radio Free Acton: Puncturing Progressive Mythology with Larry Reed
FEE President Larry Reed speaks to a full house at the Acton Lecture Series Defenders of individual liberty and the American Constitutional order have long argued that Progressivism is a corrosive philosophy that undermines individual rights while failing to produce the social good claimed by its promoters. Why do progressive solutions to societal and economic problems so often fail? Perhaps it’s because the progressive philosophy is undergirded by a system of mythology that rivals that of the ancient Greeks. On...
The Economics of Bedford Falls (Part II)
[Note: This is the second post in a series highlighting some of the financial aspects and broad economic lessons of Frank Capra’s holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. You can find part one here and part three here.] George’s Life Savings in a Life Insurance Policy George attempts to secure a loan from Potter based on his life insurance policy. He says it has a $15,000 face value and a $500 cash value. Why is his life insurance policy worth...
The Church as Cultural Lifeblood
After years of rejecting or downplaying so-called “organized religion,” evangelicals are beginning to appreciatethe church not only as organism, but as institution. As Robert Joustra explains at Capital Commentary, a “minor renaissance in thinking” is taking place, whereinthe church is viewed “not as a gathering of hierarchy-allergic spiritualists” but as “a brick and mortar institution, something with tradition, and weight, and history.” Evangelicals are beginning to seeview itnotas a “catchphrase and metaphor for likeminded people who love Jesus,” Joustra continues,...
Hope Beyond the Headlines on Millennials and Religion
Some recent headlines: December 15: “Why millennials are leaving religion but embracing spirituality”December 14: “Growing number of Millennials shun religion”December 13: “Millennials and religion: The great disconnect”December 9: “Millennials less likely to be religious than older Americans” This certainly sounds bad. Why the recent flurry of these stories? Well, all of them reference a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. By “recent,” I mean it was published November 3. So more than a month ago. There is a real...
Paris and the low-carbon conceit of climate activism
Regular readers of this space should consider themselves warned. In the wake of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, or COP21), so-called “religious” shareholder activists are intent on ruining investments, crashing the economy and doubling down on their efforts to promote energy poverty throughout the world. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s James Corah, Secretary to the Church Investors Group: “Collaborative engagement amongst Church investors has driven significant change in corporate behavior in recent years....
Pastors, Pulpits, and Politics
This week’s Acton Commentary is adapted from an introduction to a ing edited volume, The Church’s Social Responsibility: Reflections on Evangelicalism and Social Justice. The goal of the collection is to bring some wisdom to principled and prudential aspects of addressing plex questions related to responsible ecclesial word and deed today. A point of departure for the volume is the distinction between the church conceived institutionally and organically, perspectives formalized and popularized by the Dutch Reformed theologian and statesman Abraham...
The Economics of Bedford Falls (Part I)
Upon it’s initial release in 1946, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life was something of a financial flop,failing to reach the break-even point of $6.3 million. Although it was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, it wasn’t until subsequent decades that it became recognized as one of the greatest Christmas film ever made.* The film is long overdue for another reappraisal, for it’s also one of the best films ever created about economics and financial services. In a...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved