Timeline: From Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Pope Francis

Pope Francis greets the crowd at the corner of Quirino and Taft Avenues, Manila on Thursday.
INQUIRER PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

Dec. 17, 1936. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is born to Italian immigrants Mario, an accountant employed by the railways, and Regina Sivori, a homemaker, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

March 11, 1958. Bergoglio chooses the path of priesthood and enters the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto.

3. 1963. After completing his studies of the humanities in Chile, Bergoglio returns to Argentina and finishes his Philosophy degree in Colegio de San Jose in San Miguel.

1964-1965. Bergoglio teaches literature and psychology at Immaculate Concepcion College in Santa Fe.

6. 1966. Bergoglio teaches the same disciplines at the Colegio del Salvatore in Buenos Aires.

Ordained as priest

Dec. 13, 1969. Bergoglio, 32, is ordained a priest by Archbishop Ramon Jose Castellano.

April 22, 1973. Bergoglio makes his final profession with the Jesuits. Previously, 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 Rector of the Colegio Maximo of the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology.

July 31, 1973. Bergoglio is appointed Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina and takes the helm for six years.

March 1986. Pursuing higher studies, Bergoglio goes to Germany to finish his doctoral thesis.

May 20, 1992. Pope John Paul II appoints Bergoglio, 55, the titular Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary of Buenos Aires.

May 27, 1992. Bergoglio receives the episcopal ordination from Buenos Aires Archbishop Antonio Cardinal Quarracino in the cathedral.

‘Lowly but chosen’

He chooses the episcopal motto, “miserando atque eligendo” (Latin for “lowly but chosen”), and on his coat of arms inserts IHS—a Latin transliteration of the first three letters of Jesus’ name in Greek—the symbol of the Society of Jesus.

Dec. 21, 1993. Immediately after being named Episcopal Vicar of the Flores district, Bergoglio is appointed Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.

June 3, 1997. Bergoglio is elevated to the dignity of Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Feb. 28, 1998. Bergoglio, 61, succeeds Cardinal Quarracino as Archbishop of Buenos Aires—a diocese with more than three million inhabitants—upon the latter’s death. He also takes the helm as Primate and Ordinary for Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina.

Feb. 21, 2001. Pope John Paul II creates Bergoglio, 64, as cardinal and assigns him the title of San Roberto Bellarmino.

Oct. 2001. Bergoglio is appointed General Rector to the 10th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Episcopal ministry.

Election of Benedict XVI

5. 2005. Previously hesitant of taking the position, Bergoglio is appointed president of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina (ECA).

The Buenos Aires Cardinal also takes part in the Conclave in which Pope Benedict XVI is elected in April.

8. 2008. Bergoglio is reelected for another three-year mandate as president of ECA.

March 13, 2013. Bergoglio, 76, is elected the 266th Vicar of Christ, making him the first Latin American and the first non-European in more than a millennium to hold the highest position in the Roman Catholic Church. He chooses the name Francis, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, who was known as a lover of the poor.

May 12, 2013. Pope Francis presides over his first canonization rites of Blessed Antonio Primaldo and his 812 companions of Italy, Blessed Laura Montoya of Colombia and Blessed Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala of Mexico.

July 22-29, 2013. Pope Francis makes his first apostolic journey outside of Italy to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the celebration of the 28th World Youth Day.

Oct. 9, 2013. Pope Francis elevates Blessed Angela of Foligno to sainthood through equipollent or equivalent canonization, a process which bypasses the typical procedures and ceremonies.

Dec. 17, 2013. Pope Francis grants equipollent to St. Peter Faber, one of the cofounders of the Society of Jesus.

April 3. Pope Francis grants equipollent to St. Jose de Anchieta of Brazil and St. Francois de Laval and St. Marie de l’Incarnation of Canada.

First in 60 years

April 27. A first in 60 years, Pope Francis leads the joint canonization rites of Blessed Pope John XXIII and Blessed Pope John Paul II.

May 24-26. Pope Francis makes his pilgrimage to the Holy Land to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the meeting between the late Pope Paul VI and Orthodox Church Patriarch Athenagoras I in Jerusalem.

May 26. Pope Francis announces his visit to the Philippines in January 2015, with a trip to typhoon-devastated Leyte as the highlight of his visit.

Aug. 13-18. Pope Francis sets foot in Asia as he celebrates the 6th Asian Youth Day in South Korea and beatifies Paul Yun Ji-Chung and his 123 martyr companions.

Oct. 19. Pope Francis beatifies Pope Paul VI at the closing Mass for the Synod of Bishops.

Nov. 14. The Vatican releases Pope Francis’ itinerary for his pastoral journeys in Sri Lanka and the Philippines on Jan. 12-19, 2015. Pope Francis will be the third Supreme Pontiff to visit the Catholic-dominated country in the past 45 years.

Nov. 23. Pope Francis canonizes six new saints, namely Giovanni Antonio Farina, Kuriakose Elias Chavara of the Holy Family, Ludovico of Casoria, Nicola of Longobardi, Euphrasia Eluvathingal of the Sacred Heart, Amato Ronconi.–Compiled by Inquirer Research

Sources: vatican.va; news.va; Catholic News Agency; The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia; Associated Press; Reuters; CNN; Inquirer Archives