The Holy Father, Pope Francis celebrates his 85th birthday today. He will celebrate the day in a humble ceremony with orphans and children as usual. Age has never stopped the enthusiastic Pope from going about his daily tasks fervently and prayerfully. The Holy Father wakes up at 4.30am every day. He starts his day praying for hours in preparation for continuous tasks that lasts daily for atleast nine hours. His foreign trips are eagerly awaited upon by the faithful, as he constantly tries to transform the Church through the message of Peace, Love and Truth.
Known for his simplicity, Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis) was born in Buenos Aires on 17 December 1936, as the son of Italian immigrants. His father Mario was an accountant employed by the railways and his mother Regina Sivori was a committed wife dedicated to raising their five children.
Bergoglio graduated as a chemical technician and then chose the path of the priesthood, entering the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto. On 13 December 1969 he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Ramón José Castellano. He continued his training between 1970 and 1971 at the University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain, and on 22 April 1973 made his final profession with the Jesuits. Back in Argentina, he was novice master at Villa Barilari, San Miguel; professor at the Faculty of Theology of San Miguel; consultor to the Province of the Society of Jesus and also Rector of the Colegio Máximo of the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology.
It was Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who wanted Bergoglio as a close collaborator. So, on 20 May 1992 Pope John Paul II appointed him titular Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary of Buenos Aires. On 27 May he received episcopal ordination from the Cardinal in the cathedral. He chose as his episcopal motto, miserando atque eligendo, and on his coat of arms inserted the IHS, the symbol of the Society of Jesus.
He was appointed Episcopal Vicar of the Flores district and on 21 December 1993 was also entrusted with the office of Vicar General of the Archdiocese. It came as no surprise when, on 3 June 1997, he was raised to the dignity of Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Not even nine months had passed when, upon the death of Cardinal Quarracino, he succeeded him on 28 February 1998, as Archbishop, Primate of Argentina and Ordinary for Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina who have no Ordinary of their own rite.
Three years later at the Consistory of 21 February 2001, John Paul II created him Cardinal, assigning him the title of San Roberto Bellarmino. Bergoglio asked the faithful not to come to Rome to celebrate his creation as Cardinal but rather to donate to the poor what they would have spent on the journey. As Grand Chancellor of the Catholic University of Argentina, he is the author of the books: Meditaciones para religiosos (1982), Reflexiones sobre la vida apostólica (1992) and Reflexiones de esperanza (1992).
Until the sede vacante (“with the seat being vacant”), when Pope Benedict XVI vacated the Holy See, Bergoglio was a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
Bergoglio was elected as the 266th pope of the Holy Catholic Church on 13 March 2013. Pope Francis chose his name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi because he is a lover of the poor. He is the first pope from the Jesuit Church and from South America. After Pope Gregory III in the 8th century, Pope Francis is the first pope from outside Europe.