Francis is the 266th pope of the Catholic Church. He was elected on 13 March 2013. In this role, he is both the leader of Catholic Church and sovereign ruler of the Vatican City State.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio was ordained as a priest in 1969. From 1998 until 2013, he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and he became cardinal in 2001. Elected as pope in 2013 following his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, Bergoglio chose "Francis" as his name. This marked the first time in papal history that this name was used, and was the first time since Pope Lando's brief 913 reign that a serving pope held a name unused by a predecessor. Francis is both the first Jesuit priest and the first native of America to be elected as Pope. He is also the first non-European pope since Syrian-born Pope Gregory III, who died in 741. Vatican deputy spokesman Thomas Rosica said the same day that the new pontiff had chosen the name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, and had done so because the new pontiff was a lover of the poor.