Pope Francis greeted well wishers in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City shortly after being named the new pope.
In February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope in modern history to resign. The last time a pope stepped down as leader of the Catholic Church was in 1415—about 600 years ago. Pope Benedict’s resignation brought about some “firsts” for the Catholic Church.
Soon after Benedict resigned, the College of Cardinals met in Vatican City to elect a new pope. Vatican City is an independent country within the city of Rome, Italy. Within two days, the cardinals elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina. Bergoglio is a pope of many firsts. He is the first pope from the Americas. In choosing the name Francis, after Saint Francis of Assisi, he is also the first pope to have that name. In addition, Pope Francis is the first pope to come from the Jesuit order.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, as a religious order of the Catholic Church in the 1500s. From the beginning, Jesuits placed an emphasis on humility, study, and service. In his first mass as pope, Francis echoed this call to service. He encouraged the crowd of more than 150,000 people to never forget the power of service. He also encouraged the world leaders in attendance to protect one another and the environment.
As a world leader, Pope Francis now heads a religious group of more than one billion people. Catholics live in almost every country on Earth. In fact, if the Catholic Church were a country, it would be the third largest in population behind China and India. In addition to leading the Catholic Church, the pope is also the leader of Vatican City, which has a population of about 800 people.
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