• Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, passed away on April 21. He was 88.

• His real name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

• He was the first Jesuit to lead the world's almost 1.4 billion Catholics and the first from the Americas.

• He was also the first to take the name Francis, in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.

• Pope Francis was admitted to Gemelli hospital on February 14 for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He spent 38 days there. 

• But he emerged on Easter Sunday — a day before his death — to bless thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square and treat them to a surprise popemobile romp through the piazza, drawing wild cheers and applause.

• Bells tolled in church towers across Rome after the announcement, which was read out by Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, where Francis lived. 

• His death sets in motion centuries-old traditions that will culminate in the gathering of a conclave of cardinals to choose a successor.

• In the meantime, the day-to-day running of the tiny Vatican City state will be handled by the camerlengo, a senior cardinal, currently Dublin-born Kevin Farrell.

• Francis’s desire to chart a different path was evident right to the end, with his decision to be buried not in St Peter’s Basilica, but in Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica.

• He will become the first pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican.

His journey from Bishop to Pontiff

• He was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936. 

• He graduated as a chemical technician and then chose the path of the priesthood, entering the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto. On March 11, 1958 he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus. 

• He completed his studies of the humanities in Chile and returned to Argentina in 1963 to graduate with a degree in philosophy from the Colegio de San Jose in San Miguel. 

• On December 13, 1969, he was ordained a priest.

• On May 20, 1992, Pope John Paul II appointed him titular Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary of Buenos Aires.

• Upon the death of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, he succeeded him as Archbishop on February 28, 1998.

• Three years later at the Consistory of February 21, 2001, Pope John Paul II created him Cardinal, assigning him the title of San Roberto Bellarmino. 

• In April 2005, he took part in the Conclave in which Pope Benedict XVI was elected.

• After the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in February 2013, Bergoglio was elected the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church on March 13, 2013.

• Throughout his papacy, he championed the poor and vulnerable and emphasised love over doctrine.

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