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Pope Francis was born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At age 17, he decided to become a priest, eventually joining the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Bergoglio became an auxiliary bishop in 1992 and the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. After Pope Benedict XVI resigned as pope, Bergoglio was elected pope at the succeeding conclave by the College of Cardinals on March 13, 2013, choosing Francis as his papal name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.

Pope Francis thus became the first pope of the Catholic Church from South America, and the first from outside Europe since the 8th century. He died on April 21, 2025 in Casa Santa Marta, Vatican City.