Australian Catholics and faithful around the world give thanks for the life of their Holy Father, Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome.
Today, the prayers of more than a billion people – from all nations and every walk of life – go with Pope Francis to his rest.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina in 1936, and ordained a priest in 1969, Pope Francis’ fellow cardinals elected him Pope in 2013.
His was a papacy of firsts – the first pope to hail from the Americas, the first Jesuit pope, and the first to take the name of the great champion of the poor, St Francis of Assisi.