Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to lead the Catholic Church following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. He chose the name Pope Francis.
Seminarian Jorge Mario Bergoglio at the El Salvador School, where he taught literature and psychology, in Buenos Aires in 1966.El Salvador School via AP
Cardinal Bergoglio kisses the foot of Cristian Marcelo Reynoso during a Mass with young people trying to overcome drug addiction in Buenos Aires in 2008.AP
Cardinal Bergoglio travels on the subway in Buenos Aires in 2008.Pablo Leguizamon / AP
Bergoglio was known for taking the subway and mingling with the poor of Buenos Aires while archbishop.
Cardinal Bergoglio greets worshippers in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Liniers in 2009.Marcos Brindicci / Reuters
Newly elected Pope Francis I appears on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on March 13, 2013.Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images file
Faithful cheer as the new pope appears at St. Peter’s Basilica.Eric Gaillard / Reuters
The 266th pontiff, Francis was elected to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.
Pope Francis presides over a papal Mass with the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at St. Peter’s Basilica on March 29, 2013, during his first Holy Week as pontiff.Dan Kitwood / Getty Images file
Pope Francis with a dove before his Wednesday general audience at St. Peter’s Square in 2013. L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters
Pope Francis waves as he leaves Guanabara Palace in Rio de Janeiro, where he attended a welcoming ceremony on July 22, 2013.Ricardo Moraes / Reuters file
The pope’s first foreign trip was to Brazil, home to the world’s largest Roman Catholic population.
Francis with young people on a pilgrimage, including Riccardo Aguiari, second from left, at St. Peter’s Basilica on Aug. 28, 2013.L’Osservatore Romano via AP; Riccardo Aguiari
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, left, is welcomed by Pope Francis as he returns to the Vatican from the pontifical summer residence of Castel Gandolfo on May 2, 2013.L’Osservatore Romano via AP file
Francis’ election as pope began an unprecedented era, as a retired pontiff lived side by side with a reigning one inside the Vatican gardens.
Pope Francis arrives to conduct his weekly general audience at St. Peter’s Square in 2013.Max Rossi / Reuters file
Pope Francis blesses a baby in St. Peter’s Square in 2015. Gregorio Borgia / AP file
Francis with Cuba’s Fidel Castro in Havana on Sept. 20, 2015.Alex Castro / AP
The meeting, at Castro’s home, came after the pontiff delivered Cuba’s largest papal Mass ever, before an estimated 200,000 people in Havana’s Revolution Square.
President Barack Obama and Pope Francis walk down the White House Colonnade before meeting in the Oval Office on Sept. 23, 2015.Andrew Harnik / AP file
The president expressed thanks to Francis for reminding the world of a “sacred obligation” to protect the planet, for encouraging reconciliation between the United States and Cuba, and for pushing humanity toward peace.
Pope Francis visits Ground Zero in New York on Sept. 25, 2015.L’Osservatore Romano / Pool via AP)
“Here, grief is palpable,” the pope said later at an interfaith service at the nearby Sept. 11 Memorial Museum. “The water we see flowing toward that empty pit reminds us of all those lives which fell prey to those who think that destruction, tearing down, is the only way to settle conflicts.”
Pope Francis visits Auschwitz, the former Nazi death camp, on July 29, 2016.L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters
Francis made a mostly silent pilgrimage to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. His only public words were written in Spanish in the Auschwitz guest book: “Lord, have pity on your people. Lord, forgive so much cruelty.”
Francis changes his skullcap, called a zucchetto, as he leaves St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience in 2017. Angele Carconi / EPA
Francis with President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Trump’s daughter Ivanka at the end of a private audience at the Vatican on May 24, 2017.Evan Vucci / Pool via AFP – Getty Images file
Francis during an audience with children from middle schools across Italy on June 2, 2017, at the Vatican.L’Osservatore Romano via AFP – Getty Images
Francis talks with crew members of the International Space Station from the Vatican on Oct. 26, 2017. L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters
Francis’ papacy has been marked by his concern for the environment, and he has echoed his predecessors in stressing the absolute compatibility of faith and science, and the compatibility of the big bang theory with God’s “divine act of creation.”
Francis signs a Lamborghini Huracan received as a gift on Nov. 15, 2017, as Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali, to the pope’s right, looks on.L’Osservatore Romano via AFP – Getty Images
The donated Lamborghini, which normally sells for more than $200,000, was signed by the pope outside his Vatican residence and was auctioned by Sotheby’s, with the proceeds to help the needy.
Francis meets with representatives of Indigenous communities of the Amazon rainforest on Oct. 17, 2019, at the Vatican.Vatican Media via AFP – Getty Images
Dancers perform for the pope at the Laszlo Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Hungary on April 29, 2023.Andrew Medichini / AP file
Francis meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on May 13, 2023.Vatican News via AP
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Pope Francis has regularly referred to Ukraine and its people as “martyred” and has called for the fighting to end.
Pope Francis on the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on April 20.Tiziana Fabi / AFP – Getty Images
The pope died on April 21, 2025, hours after appearing before crowds at the Vatican on Easter Sunday.
