Pope Francis: timeline of the pontiff's life and career

VATICAN CITY, April 21 (Reuters) - Following are some of the major events of the life and ministry of Pope Francis, who has died at the age of 88.

December 17 - Jorge Mario Bergoglio is born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the son of Italian immigrants.

December 13 - Ordained a priest.

July 31 - Becomes head of the Jesuits in Argentina.

May 20 - Appointed Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary of Buenos Aires.

February 28 - Appointed Archbishop, Primate of Argentina. He becomes famous for commuting to work on public transport, not living in the archbishop's palace and cooking his own meals.

February 21 - Appointed a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.

April 19 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected pope after four ballots, takes the name Benedict. Subsequent leaks show that Bergoglio came second in all the secret ballots.

March 13 - Bergoglio is elected pope after the shock resignation of Pope Benedict. He takes the name Francesco (Francis) and is the first non-European pope in 1,300 years.

July 8 - Makes first pastoral trip outside Rome, visiting the Italian island of Lampedusa and condemns the "globalisation of indifference" to the plight of migrants.

July 29 - During his first news conference onboard the papal plane, Francis says: "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" - seen as the most conciliatory attitude to LGBT people by a pontiff.

November 26 - Calls for a deep renewal of the Church in a major document (apostolic exhortation) setting out his papacy.

February 24 - Creates a new body within the Vatican to coordinate economic and administrative affairs.

May 24-26 - Visits the Holy Land. He becomes the first pontiff to lay a wreath at the tomb of the founder of modern Zionism. He also prays in front of the Israeli security wall that is despised by Palestinians.

June 18 - Releases first papal document dedicated to the environment, the encyclical "Laudato Si", urging world leaders to hear "the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor".

April 8 - In a document on family life, Francis urges priests to be more accepting of divorced or remarried Catholics and to welcome single parents and LGBT people. But he rejects the notion of same-sex marriage.

June 26 - Says Christians owe apologies to LGBT community and others who have been offended or exploited by the church.

November 2 - Tells reporters the Catholic ban on female priests is forever.

January 2 - Pope Francis says in a letter bishops must show zero tolerance to clergy who sexually abuse children. He begs forgiveness for "a sin that shames us".

June 28 - Cardinal George Pell, appointed Vatican economy minister by Francis, is charged with multiple historical sex crimes in his native Australia. He is initially convicted in December 2018, but then found not guilty in April 2020 on appeal.

July 1 - In a major shake-up, Francis replaces Catholicism's top theologian, a conservative German cardinal who has been at odds with the pontiff's vision of a more inclusive Church.

January 30 - Just days after defending a Chilean bishop accused of sex crimes against minors, the pope sends top sexual abuse expert to Chile to investigate. In April, Francis says he made "grave mistakes" in handling the Chile crisis, asks for forgiveness.

May 18 - In an unprecedented move, all Chile's bishops offer to resign after attending a crisis meeting with Pope Francis. In the subsequent months he accepts many of the resignations.

July 28 - Accepts resignation of U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. In February 2019, Francis expels him from the priesthood after the Church finds him guilty of sexually abusing minors - the first time a cardinal has been defrocked for sexual abuse.

August 25-26 - Visits Ireland, says Church failure to adequately address "repugnant" clerical child abuse crimes in Irel...
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