From Buenos Aires to Rome: Key dates in the life of Pope Francis

VATICAN CITY AP Key events in the life of Jorge Mario Bergoglio who became Pope Francis and died on Monday Dec Jorge Mario Bergoglio is born in Buenos Aires Argentina the eldest of five children to Mario Jose Bergoglio an accountant from Italy and Regina Mar a S vori the daughter of Italian immigrants Dec Ordained a priest with the Jesuit religious order which he would lead as Argentina provincial superior during the country s murderous dictatorship that began in the s May Named auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and in succeeds Cardinal Antonio Quarracino as archbishop of the Argentine capital Feb Elevated to cardinal by St John Paul II May Helps draft the final document of the fifth meeting of the Latin American bishops conference in Aparecida Brazil synthesizing what would eventually become his concerns as pope for the poor Indigenous peoples and the atmosphere and the need for a missionary church March Elected th pope the first from the Americas the first Jesuit and the first to take the name of Francis after St Francis of Assisi April Creates a kitchen cabinet of eight cardinals from around the globe to help him govern the church and reorganize its bureaucracy May Canonizes the Martyrs of Otranto Italians slain in for defying demands by Turkish invaders to convert to Islam With one ceremony Francis nearly doubled the saints made by St John Paul II over his quarter-century pontificate which at the time was more than all his predecessors combined for years July Makes first trip outside Rome to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to meet with newly arrived newcomers and denounces the globalization of indifference shown to would-be refugees July Declares Who am I to judge when inquired about a gay priest during a news conference signaling a more welcoming stance toward LGBTQ neighborhood Nov Issues mission declaration for his papacy in Evangelii Gaudium The Happiness of the Gospel denouncing the world financial system that excludes the poor and declaring the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak May Makes an unscheduled stop to pray at wall separating Israel from West Bank town of Bethlehem in a show of aid for the Palestinian cause June Hosts Israeli and Palestinian presidents for peace prayers in the Vatican gardens March Accepts the resignation of the rights and privileges of Scottish Cardinal Keith O Brien after adult men accuse him of sexual misconduct June Issues his environmental manifesto Laudato Si Praised Be calling for a cultural revolution to correct the structurally perverse global economic system that exploits the poor and has turned Earth into an immense pile of filth July Apologizes in Bolivia for the sins and crimes of the Catholic Church against Indigenous peoples during the colonial-era conquest of the Americas Sept Overhauls the annulment process to make it faster cheaper and simpler so divorced Catholics can remarry in the church Sept Challenges Congress to rediscover America s ideals by acting on surroundings change immigration and poverty reduction in the first speech by a pope at the U S Capitol Nov Inaugurates the Jubilee of Mercy by opening the Holy Door of the cathedral in Bangui Central African Republic rather than at the Vatican Feb Meets Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill during a stopover in Havana and declares We are brothers in first such meeting between a pope and patriarch in over years Feb Prays for dead movers at the U S -Mexico confines later says then-presidential candidate Donald Trump is not a Christian for wanting to build a confines wall April Opens the way to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion in a footnote to the document Amoris Laetitia The Happiness of Love April Visits a refugee camp in Lesbos Greece and brings Syrian Muslims to Rome aboard his papal plane in an appeal for solidarity toward movers Sept Is questioned in a letter by four conservative cardinals seeking clarification of his opening to divorced and remarried Catholics Dec Declares at a meeting in Bangladesh with Myanmar Rohingya refugees that The presence of God in contemporary times is also called Rohingya Jan Accuses sex abuse casualties of slander during a visit to Chile further undermining Catholic Church s credibility Subsequently orders a Vatican study into Chile s abuse emergency April Admits to grave errors in judgment in Chile s sex abuse outrage Later summons Chilean bishops to Rome to secure their resignations and invites abuse casualties to Vatican to apologize Aug Declares capital punishment inadmissible under all circumstances in a change to official church teaching July Accepts the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from the College of Cardinals orders him to penance and prayer pending an research into assertions of sexual misconduct with minors and adults Aug Retired Vatican ambassador Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano publishes bombshell accusation claiming U S and Vatican bureaucrats for two decades covered up McCarrick s sexual misconduct demands Francis resign Sept Vatican and China sign landmark agreement over bishop nominations Oct Canonizes slain Salvadoran Archbishop scar Romero after his saint-making process was held up for decades by conservative cardinals Feb Signs the Human Fraternity document with the imam of Al Azhar establishing collaborative relations between Catholics and Muslims Feb Defrocks McCarrick after Vatican study finds he sexually abused minors and adults Feb Opens first Vatican summit on child protection warns bishops the faithful demand action not just condemnation of clergy sexual abuse May Issues new church law requiring clergy sex abuse to be published in-house although not to police establishes procedures for exploring accused bishops cardinals and religious superiors Oct Apologizes to Amazonian bishops tribal leaders after conservative activists steal Indigenous statues from Vatican-area church and throw them into Tiber River in show of opposition to the pope Nov Declares the use and possession of nuclear weapons immoral during a visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan Dec Abolishes use of pontifical secret in clergy sex abuse cases allowing bishops to share internal documentation about abusers with law enforcement Feb Declines to approve ordination of married men as priests after appeals from Amazonian bishops sidestepping issue in document Querida Amazonia Beloved Amazon March Delivers solitary evening prayer to the world facing the coronavirus pandemic from the promenade of St Peter s Square Oct Issues encyclical Fratelli Tutti Brothers All arguing the pandemic proves theories of industry capitalism failed and a new type of politics is needed to promote human fraternity Nov Vatican summary into McCarrick finds Vatican U S bishops cardinals and popes played down or dismissed reports of sexual misconduct but spares Francis March - Becomes first pope to visit Iraq meeting with its top Shiite Muslim cleric July Undergoes intestinal surgery at Rome s Gemelli hospital has centimeters inches of colon removed Jan Presides at funeral Mass for Pope Benedict XVI Jan Declares in an Associated Press interview that Being homosexual is not a crime March Is admitted to Rome s Gemelli hospital for respiratory infection is distributed April June Undergoes surgery to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in the abdominal wall Oct Opens a synod on making the church more responsive to ordinary faithful during which women are allowed to vote alongside bishops for the first time Nov Cancels visit to Dubai to address U N atmosphere conference and outline a new ecological manifesto Laudate Deum Praise God because of a new matter of acute bronchitis Dec Vatican tribunal convicts Cardinal Angelo Becciu of embezzlement and sentences him to years in prison in one of several verdicts in a complicated financial trial that aired the city state s dirty laundry and tested its justice system Dec Approves blessings for same-sex couples provided they don t resemble marriage sparking fierce opposition from conservative bishops in Africa Asia and elsewhere July Vatican excommunicates leading Francis critic Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano for schism Sept Chosen people half of East Timor s population attend Francis Mass in Dili in what is inferred to be the biggest turnout for a papal event in terms of the proportion of the population Dec Opens the holy door of Rome s Rebibbia prison two days after formally inaugurating the Jubilee Jan Appears wearing a sling after a fall that bruised his right arm just weeks after another apparent fall bruised his chin Feb Is hospitalized after a bout of bronchitis worsens and then develops into a complex lung infection and double pneumonia Feb His doctors briefly consider suspending healing after a breathing dilemma but decides instead on an aggressive program that risks organ damage March Marks the th anniversary of his electoral process as pope while hospitalized March Is distributed from the hospital after days of remedy but looked weak and frail earlier that day when appearing on a balcony to greet the crowd below April Still recovering from double pneumonia Francis keeps his Holy Thursday tradition of spending time with the least fortunate visiting inmates at Rome s Regina Caeli prison Although he says he couldn t perform the ritual of washing the feet of people in a gesture of humility he adds he desired to be with them and do what Jesus did on Holy Thursday