Born in Chicago to a French father and an Italian mother, and later a missionary in Peru where he earned citizenship, Pope ...

after the 13th-century figure St. Francis of Assisi, known as the patron saint of ecologists and champion of the poor. It was a befitting choice. Pope Francis was the fiercest climate and environm ...

a name he chose in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, people were immediately struck by the simple appearance of the Church’s new pontiff elected to lead the world’s approximately 1.4 billion ...

He articulated the mission just days after his 2013 election and it explained the name he chose as pope, honoring St. Francis of Assisi “who had the heart of the poor of the world,” according ...