Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Pope Francis — a life in pictures

abc.net.au - 21/04
Before he became Pope Francis, he was Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Born in Argentina to the son of Italian immigrants, he would become the first pope to be born or raised outside Europe in centuries.

Before he became Pope Francis, he was known as Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

The son of Italian immigrants, Bergoglio was born on December 17, 1936 in Argentina.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio as a child.(AFP)

His father, Mario, was an accountant employed by the railways while his mother, Regina, raised the five children.

Bergoglio graduated as a chemical technician before choosing the path of the priesthood, entering the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto in Buenos Aires.

Jesuit priest Jorge Mario Bergoglio.(Getty Images: Jesuit General Curia)
Jorge Mario Bergoglio (back row, fourth from left) with family.(AFP: Bergoglio Family)
Jorge Bergoglio (left) with his mother Maria Regina Sivori and his father Mario Jose Bergoglio pictured in 1958.(AFP/Bergoglio Family)

He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1958 when in his early 20s and was ordained a priest in 1969.

As Archbishop of Buenos Aires — a diocese with more than 3 million inhabitants — he created a missionary project based on communion and evangelisation.

As Pope Francis, he would become the first pope to be born or raised outside Europe since the Syrian-born Pope Gregory III in AD 731.

Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1998.(AFP/Parroquia Virgen de Caacupe)
Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio with residents in Buenos Aires.(AFP)
Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio during the inauguration of a chapel in Buenos Aires.(AFP: Parroquia Virgen de Caacupe)
Jorge Mario Bergoglio greeting parishioners during the celebration of Saint Cajetan in Buenos Aires.(AFP: Claudia Conteris)

In 2001, he was created a cardinal under Pope John Paul II.

He asked the faithful not to journey to Rome to celebrate, but to instead donate to the poor what they would have spent on the trip.

"My people are poor and I am one of them," he said at various times, explaining his decision to live in an apartment and cook his own supper.

In 2005, he took part in the Conclave in which Pope Benedict XVI was elected.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio at St Peter's Basilica in 2005.(AFP: Marco Longari)
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio delivers a mass in 2005.  (AFP: Juan Mabromata)
Pope Benedict XVI meets the archbishop of Buenos Aires Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio at the Vatican in...
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