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Pope Francis Facts

Pope Francis Facts
Pope Francis is the 266th Pope, of the Roman Catholic Church, and sovereign of Vatican City (elected in 2013). Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17th, 1936, in Flore, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was the oldest of five children born to Regina Maria Siviori, and Mario Jose Bergoglio. Jorge developed an interest in the priesthood when passing a church one day, and went on to study at the Inmaculada Concepcion Seminary in Buenos Aires. He made his first vows on March, 12th, 1960. He made his final vow of obedience on April 22, 1973. In 1992, he was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires. In 2001, he was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II. Jorge was elected on 2013 to be the Pope, at the age of 76. He chose the name Pope Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Interesting Pope Francis Facts:
Pope Francis is the first of 266 popes to be a Jesuit pope.
Pope Francis is the first of 266 popes to be from the Americas.
Pope Francis is the first non-European to be made pope since 741, when the pope was Syrian Gregory III.
Pope Francis fluently speaks Spanish, Latin, Italian, and is able to understand Ukrainian, English, German, and Portuguese.
Pope Francis lives a life of humility. He rode the bus when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and lived in a simple apartment. He flew to Rome on economy class when he was elected as the Pope.
When Pope Francis was a child he had to have a lung removed due to an infection, but he is in good health nonetheless.
Pope Francis was a big fan of the tango in his pre-priest days.
When he lived in Buenos Aires and prior to his priest days, Pope Francis worked as a bouncer in a bar.
In 2005 the future Pope Francis was a runner-up to Pope Benedict XVI for the position of pope.
Pope Francis uses Twitter to send messages to his followers. He is estimated to have about seven million followers on that social platform alone. His handle is @Pontifex. He is considered to be the most retweeted world leader.
Pope Francis is a huge fan of football (or soccer depending on what country).
Pope Francis is a citizen of Vatican, Italy, and of Argentina.
Pope Francis lives in a small guest house in the Vatican rather than the apartments previous popes had used.
In 2013, Time Magazine named Pope Francis 'Person of the Year'.
Pope Francis has been known to make phone calls to some of the people who write to him.
Pope Francis drives a used 1984 Renault to get around the grounds of the Vatican.
Pope Francis has his own emojis, called Popemojis.
Pope Francis is known to enjoy reading popular fiction including works by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Pope Francis has been known to perform acts that Jesus is also said to have performed, including washing the feet of sinners.
Pope Francis told his schoolgirl crush that if he didn't marry her he would become a priest, which he eventually did.


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