Pope Francis, leader of 1.2 billion Catholics

Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is the reigning pope of the Catholic Church, in which capacity he is both Bishop of Rome and absolute Sovereign of the Vatican City State.

A papal conclave elected Bergoglio as Pope on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian, Pope Gregory III in 741, 1,272 years earlier.

This postcard came from Agatha & Peng (11 November 2014) on their recent trip.