Pope Francis 

Pope Francis was born in 1936 in Argentina and is the 266th Pope to lead the Catholic Church since Jesus asked St Peter to be the first leader. He was elected on 13th March 2013 and he chose the name Francis to honour St. Francis of Assisi.  

Pope Francis chose not to move into the palace in order to live his life simply and he now lives in a small apartment in Vatican City, in Rome. He often gets the bus to travel around Rome and enjoys cooking his own meals.  

Throughout his life, he has been known for his humility, his concern for the poor, and his commitment to build bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and faiths. He has expressed concern about the effects of global warming and climate change and has written a special letter called Laudato si’ to the people about how to care for our beautiful planet. 

Pope Francis enjoys meeting children and recognises the importance of young people of faith who have the opportunity to make a difference to others and to change the world. 

Some fun facts about Pope Francis

• Pope Francis loves reading and going to the opera.
• He is a big football fan who supports San Lorenzo who play in the Argentinian premier league.
• Pope Francis also speaks Spanish, Italian French and Latin fluently but also understands English, German and Portuguese
• He only has one lung because the other was removed after a serious infection when he was a teenager.
• Popes usually wear specially made red silk shoes but Pope Francis chooses to wear simple black shoes.
• The title ‘Pope’ comes from the Greek word pappas meaning ‘father’ Pope Francis is the father who guides and supports the 1.3 billon Catholics across the world. Keep up to date with news from the Vatican by following this link: https://www.vaticannews.va/en.html