Pope Francis (1936–2025) was the leader of the Catholic Church from 2013 to 2025. Before he was elected to the papacy on March 13, 2013, he was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina. He is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, and the first to take the name Francis, inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, whom he has called “the man of the poor, the man of peace, the man who loved and cared for creation.”