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Pope Francis

"When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly: we may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord." (Pope Francis, Homily, Missa Pro Ecclesia, March 14, 2013)



Pope Francis was born on December 17th 1936 in Buenos Aires. He is of Italian descent and his father was an immigrant railway worker. He originally went to college to study chemistry, but abandoned his studies at the age of 22 after he lost one of his lungs to an illness. He was ordained as a Jesuit in 1969 and went on to study in Argentina and Germany. Francis became a bishop in 1992, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and a cardinal in 2001. He was a strong supporter of the veterans of the war in the Falkland Islands and spoke against attempts to ignore the histroy of the war. Francis is passionate about helping the poor and has often stressed social inclusion and criticized governments that do not help those in the margins of society, describing poverty as immoral and unjust.