Habemus Papam! Pope Francis
RCL Benziger Celebrates the 266th Pope!
March 13, 2013 (MASON, Ohio) "” Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires today was elected the 265th Successor of Saint Peter for the Catholic Church: Pope Francis The former Cardinal Bergoglio has been Archbishop of Buenos Aires since 1998. A member of the Society of Jesus, he is said to be a simple man who rides the bus, visits the poor, cooks his own meals and lives in a small apartment and is known to many simply as "Father Jorge." He was born in Buenos Aires on Dec. 17, 1936. He studied and received a master's degree in chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires, but later decided to become a Jesuit priest and studied at the Jesuit seminary of Villa Devoto. He studied liberal arts in Santiago, Chile, and in 1960 earned a degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of Buenos Aires. Between 1964 and 1965 he was a teacher of literature and psychology at Inmaculada high school in the province of Santa Fe, and in 1966 he taught the same courses at the prestigious Colegio del Salvador in Buenos Aires. In 1967, he returned to his theological studies and was ordained a priest Dec. 13, 1969. After his perpetual profession as a Jesuit in 1973, he became master of novices at the Seminary of Villa Barilari in San Miguel. Later that same year, he was elected superior of the Jesuit province of Argentina. In 1980, he returned to San Miguel as a teacher at the Jesuit school, a job rarely taken by a former provincial superior. In May 1992 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. He was one of three auxiliaries and he kept a low profile, spending most of his time caring for the Catholic university, counseling priests and preaching and hearing confessions. On June 3, 1997, he was named coadjutor archbishop. He was installed as the new archbishop of Buenos Aires Feb. 28, 1998.