Head of the Catholic Church, worldwide, Pope Francis has reportedly died.
Apart from heading billions of adherents of Catholism, Pope Francis is also the head of the sovereign of the Vatican City State.
Originally born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Francis is the first pope from the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.
Before emerging as the pope, Bergoglio was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and served as the provincial superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina from 1973 to 1979.
He then became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.
Known for his humility, Pope Francis was also known to be emphasizing on God’s mercy, and commitment to social justice. He’s taken a less formal approach to the papacy, choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guest house rather than the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace.
More details later…
