In pictures: The life of Pope Francis
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on December 17, 1936.
He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 before being inaugurated as Pope Francis in 2013.
His progressive papal legacy asked that the doors of the Church remain open, just as God's mercy extends to all those who repent from sin.
Click through for the most pivotal moments of his papacy. Follow our rolling coverage here.
Early life
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, pictured here as a young boy, was born on December 17, 1936.
He was the eldest child of Mario and Regina Bergoglio, Italian immigrants in Argentina.
He was the eldest of five children.
Ascension through the Catholic Church
Bergoglio was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1969 at the Theological faculty of San Miguel and became the Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina from 1973-1979.
The Society of Jesus, founded in 1540 by the Spanish Ignatius of Loyola, is a Christian male religious order of the Roman Catholic Church with ministries in 112 nations and on six continents.
Jesuits operate in education, intellectual research and cultural pursuits.
Francis' stint at the head of the Catholic Church was unlike any in centuries.
He was the first pope since the 1400s to co-exist with his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who resigned due to ill health but occasionally signalled his displeasure with the direction in which Francis was steering the church.
And he brought a unique style to the Vatican. Francis famously swerved the opulence afforded to serving popes in favour of the modest trappings of his life in Argentina, where he had once worked as a janitor and a bouncer at a bar.
He turned down the opportunity to move into the luxurious papal apartments, instead opting for a smaller guest house, and celebrated his first birthday in office with three homeless men living on the streets of Rome.
But his tenure did not heal deep divisions within the Catholic Church, whose reputation remains deeply stained by the ongoing revelations of sexual abusers in its ranks, and whose strict teachings on social issues have raised questions about its relevance in parts of the world.
Here he kisses the foot of Cristian Marcelo Reynoso during a mass with youth trying to overcome drug addictions in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2008.
Jorge Bergoglio was appointed the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998.
Pictured here Bergoglio prays at a mass in the parish and sanctuary of Pompeya on October 26, 2008, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In 2001, Bergoglio was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II during a consistory in St Peter's Square in Vatican City.
In February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would retire, effective February 28.
On March 13, Bergoglio was elected the 266th pope by 115 cardinals.
Pictured here just two days before his papal inauguration, Cardinal Bergoglio gave his first Angelus Blessing to the faithful from the window of his private residence in Vatican City.
Inauguration as Pope
Pope Francis was inaugurated in St Peter's Square on March 19, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican.
The mass was held in front of up to a million pilgrims and faithful who filled the square and surrounding streets to see the former Cardinal of Buenos Aires officially take up his role as pontiff.
Francis was the first pope from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe for centuries.
Bergoglio chose the name Francis to honour Saint Francis of Assisi, who is revered for his work with the poor and underprivileged.
In December of 2013, Francis was named Time magazine's Person of the Year.
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
