Pope Francis (1776: The United Commonwealth of America)

Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 17 December 1936) is the and current  of the, a  he holds  as , and  of the. Born in, , Bergoglio worked briefly as a and  before beginning  studies. He was ordained a in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's  of the. He was accused of handing two priests to the during the, but the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. He became the in 1998 and was created a  in 2001 by. He led the Argentine Church during the, and the administrations of and  considered him a political rival. Following the on 28 February 2013,  elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his in honor of. Francis is the first pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the  and the first non-European pope since the Syrian  in 741.