POPE FRANCIS AND THE ROAD TO PAPACY

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POPE FRANCIS AND THE ROAD TO PAPACY

     The "media shy" Argentine cardinal makes history by becoming the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

DECEMBER 17, 1936  -  A future pope is born Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires. His father was an Italian immigrant railway worker while his mother was a housewife.

1958  - A major respiratory illness Bergoglio lost a lung due to respiratory illness when he was 22, just a decade before he became a priest.

DECEMBER 13, 1969  -  Ordained for the Jesuits. At 32, Bergoglio became a Jesuit priest during his theological studies at the Theological Faculty of San Miguel, where he taught theology.

1973 — 1979  -  Argentina Jesuits' shepherd
Bergoglio became Provincial for Argentine Jesuits. During his leadership, he struggled to prevent Jesuits from joing the liberation theology movement, which attracted priests into political activity. But Bergoglio himself has clashed with authorities in politics, once saying during the administration of late president Nestor Kirchner: "We live a scandalous situation of poverty and disease and everything leads to a lack of justice."

1976 — 1983  -  Rise of the military dictatorship
Bergoglio's career bloomed during a bloody military dictatorship where 30,000 suspected left-leaning groups were kidnapped and killed.

1976 — 1983  -  Embroiled in the abduction of two Jesuits.  In a book, titled "Silence" by journalist Horacio Verbitsky, it was written that Bergoglio decided to "withdraw" the order's protection of the two Jesuits abducted by the military for their work in poor neighborhoods, after they refused to quit their work. People who defended Bergoglio, however, insist that the priest helped dissidents at that time escape a military junta rule.

1980 — 1986  -  Teaching new Jesuits Bergoglio took on the job as rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel

MAY 20, 1992  -  Bergoglio as bishop.  Bergoglio was appointed titular Bishop of Auca and Auxillary of Buenos Aires

JUNE 3, 1997  -  Archbishop's right hand.  Bergoglio was named Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires

FEBRUARY 28, 1998  -  Head of Argentina Catholics
Bergoglio succeeded Cardinal Antonio Quarracino as Archbishop

FEBRUARY 21, 2001  -  A prince of the Church
Bergoglio was proclaimed Cardinal by Pope John Paul II

OCTOBER 2001  -  Francis the orator.  Bergoglio acted as Adjunct Relator General of the 10th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops

2005  -  The 2005 Conclave.  Bergoglio emerged as the moderate rival candidate to then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who went on to become Pope Benedict XVI.

NOVEMBER 8, 2005 — November 8, 2011  -  Leader among leaders.  Bergoglio served as President of the Bishops' Conference of Argentina

2010  -  Argentina allows gay marriage Argentina became the first Latin American country to allow same-sex marriage, infuriating Bergoglio."Let's not be naive," Bergoglio said. "This is not just a political struggle. It is destructive to God's plan."

FEBRUARY 12, 2013  -  Pope Benedict XVI resigns.
Pope Benedict XVI shocked the world when he announced his resignation, saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to carry on. He is the first Pope to step down in over 600 years.

MARCH 12, 2013  -  A conclave begins.  Cardinals gather for the historic conclave to elect a new pope after Benedict XVI's resignation.

MARCH 13, 2013  -  White smoke.  After only five ballots, white smoke pours from the roof of the Sistine Chapel, signalling that the cardinals had chosen a new pope.

MARCH 13, 2013  -  "Habemus Papam" (WE HAVE POPE).
The Argentine cardinal was elected Pope Francis and becomes the first pontiff from the Americas and the first Jesuit in history to lead Vatican.

MARCH 14, 2013  -  12 Hours after Pope Francis' election.  Pope Francis quietly left the Vatican to pray at Rome's 5th-century Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Jan 19 2020

Sun, 07:47:06 PM