News about Sex Abuse • Pope Francis

Francis was the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church and held the role for 12 years. His body will lie in state in the church until Friday evening, when his coffin will be sealed during a liturgical rite at 20:00 local time, the Vatican says.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires December 17, 1936. He earned a chemical technician's diploma from his high school and entered the Jesuit novitiate in March 1958.

Francis' concern for the poor was noted in his critiques of capitalism, his quite visible support of refugees and migrants, and his outreach to liberationist, anarchist, communist, socialist, and liberal movements in Latin America that were under a cloud during the papacy of John Paul II.

March 13, 2013: Elected 266th pope, the first from the Americas, the first Jesuit and the first to take the name of Francis, after St.