Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now more commonly known as Pope Francis, was born on December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to an Italian family. He graduated as a chemical technician and later became part of the Society of Jesus in 1958. Bergoglio was a literature and psychology teacher at Immaculate Conception College in New Mexico and at the Colegio del Salvatore in Argentina and earned his own college degrees in theology from colleges in the Philippines and Germany. Bergoglio began his life of priesthood in 1969 and in 1973, when he became a Jesuit local in Argentina. His mother did not agree with his choice to become a priest at first, but later accepted it. He also became a theology teacher and the dean at his former college. Bergoglio …show more content…
He wrote about climate change, pollution, and damage of nature, but also humans’ abilities to choose well and start change. Pope Francis is also renowned for his support of the poor and the disregarded people of society and his involvement in negotiation and promotion of ecology. Pope Francis’s prayer life is intertwined with his everyday life. He expresses himself and his Catholic beliefs through different types of prayer. Prayer comes in many different forms and expressions. It is a wholehearted religious reaction to a “conversation” with God, who loves unconditionally all the time. Pope Francis receives this intimate time with God because of the numerous ways he …show more content…
He uses his whole being to pray on the outside, not just internally, to avoid missing the closeness and energy that come from experiencing God in life. He prays using his whole body, including his feet, ears and eyes. In his new style of prayer, the “Five Finger Prayer”, he also uses his fingers. He uses them to pray for different people in his life. The thumb, the closest finger to oneself, is to pray for the people who one is closest to in their lives, the index finger is to pray for those who have taught and healed, and the middle finger, the tallest one, is to pray for government officials and leaders with power. The ring finger, also the weakest finger on the hand, is to pray for the sick and feeble, and the pinky, the smallest finger, is to pray for oneself. Pope Francis uses the scriptures to pray too when performing mass and reading straight from the text of the Bible. He prays by himself, to others in large groups when traveling (like to America), over social media (like his Twitter account), and many other ways. Pope Francis uses different forms of prayer in his everyday life to connect his thoughts and emotions to God in his