Pope Francis Elected
In March 2013, the College of Cardinals elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, as the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He took the name Francis, becoming the first pope from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, the first Jesuit to hold the office, and the first non-European pope in well over a thousand years. The election mattered because it signaled how far the center of gravity of Catholicism had shifted toward the Global South, where a large share of the world's Catholics now live.
The conclave was convened after an unusual event: Pope Benedict XVI announced in February 2013 that he would resign, citing declining strength. No pope had stepped down voluntarily in roughly six centuries, and the last widely recognized resignation, that of Gregory XII in 1415, had occurred to end a schism. Benedict's pontificate had also been shadowed by controversies, including the fallout from clergy sexual abuse scandals and troubles over the governance of the Vatican bureaucracy, the Curia.
Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires in 1936 to a family of Italian immigrants. He joined the Jesuits, was ordained a priest in 1969, and became archbishop of his native city in 1998 and a cardinal in 2001. He was known for a modest lifestyle, often taking public transport and ministering in the city's poorer neighborhoods. His record during Argentina's military dictatorship of the 1970s, when he led the Jesuits in the country, has been debated; critics have questioned his actions, while others have defended him, and the evidence is contested.
The cardinals voted inside the Sistine Chapel, and white smoke appeared on the second day of the conclave. Francis then stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and greeted the crowd simply, asking them to pray for him before he gave his blessing. His choice of the name Francis was widely read as a reference to Francis of Assisi, associated with poverty and care for creation.
His papacy emphasized mercy, outreach to the marginalized, and attention to migrants and the poor. He issued the 2015 encyclical Laudato Si' on the environment and climate change, and he pursued reform of Vatican finances and the Curia. He also stirred debate within the Church, with some praising his more pastoral tone on issues such as divorce and family life, and conservatives criticizing what they saw as ambiguity on doctrine. His election remains a landmark in the Church's modern history, reflecting a more global Catholicism.