Pope Francis died on Tuesday morning at 7:35 a.m. at the age of 88. Among the many things he will be remembered for, he will also be remembered as the person with one of the most interesting paths to the Holy See.
While his predecessors, such as Benedict XVI, had a “standard” path to the Vatican, Pope Francis only embarked on the path of religion in his mid-20s.
As the child of immigrants from Italy who fled to Argentina from the rule of fascist leader Benito Mussolini, he did not have an easy childhood, and after graduating from high school, he worked many jobs.
He graduated from technical high school and worked as a chemical technician in a laboratory, but he did not stay there long. A series of unusual jobs followed, and Pope Francis, then Jorge Mario Bergoglio, worked as a janitor and as a bouncer in a nightclub.
Before officially entering the Catholic Church, Pope Francis danced tango and dated girls, and his life was changed by a chance meeting with a priest in 1958.
He almost left his career in the Catholic Church immediately after joining the Jesuit movement because, as noted in his biography, he fell in love with a girl.
Nevertheless, in 1960 he officially took lifelong vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and set out on a path that would end in 2013 with his appointment as leader of the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis died after 12 years in the Holy See, and he will be remembered as a very modest, but also courageous leader of the Catholic Church. His life before his religious career must have had a great influence on his behavior during the previous 12 years.
