Pope Francis’ seriously unexpected past before becoming head of Roman Catholic Church revealed
Topics: Pope Francis
Jess Hardiman
Featured Image Credit: Rodrigo Alfaro/LatinContent via Getty Images
Topics: Pope Francis
When Pope Francis died earlier this week, he left behind a rich legacy after a life devoted to his faith.
When he was elected to the position in 2013, Francis became the first pope from the Americas, as well as the first non-European for more than 1,200 years.
“He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalised,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, said as he announced Francis’ death.
“With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite, merciful love of God, One and Tribune.″
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Of course, he was not always Pope Francis.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Francis was the eldest of five children born to Italian parents, who fled their home country to escape fascism.
After leaving school, he qualified as a chemical technician before going on to work in the food processing industry.
But there’s another job he had when he was younger that you might find particularly surprising, and that’s his previous stint as a nightclub bouncer.
From the discotheque to the Vatican: who’d have thought?
It wasn’t until he was 21, when he underwent surgery to have part of his lungs removed after a severe bout of pleurisy, that he realised what his true vocation should be.
He said it hit him when he stopped off at church one day on the way to meet friends.
“Something strange happened to me in that confession,” he was later quoted as saying in an official biography.
“I don’t know what it was, but it changed my life. I think it surprised me, caught me with my guard down.”
In 1958, he entered the Jesuit novitiate and studied humanities, philosophy and theology in Chile and Argentina, before eventually being ordained a priest in 1969.
Four years later, Francis was made Superior of the Jesuit province of Argentina, a post he held for six years.
After being appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 2001.
Then, of course, his moment came in 2013 when Francis landed the papacy, choosing to rule with simplicity – taking the bus with other cardinals instead of using the papal limousine, among others moves.
"Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor," he said.
Of course, the move from nightclub bouncer to head of the Roman Catholic Church is no easy journey.
When asked if he had stage fright as he held his first Mass as Pope, Francis admitted: "Was I anxious? A little, yes, but everyone was nice. But it's true, having a lot of people in front of you is a bit scary."