In the long history of the role that he inhabited, Pope Francis was among the very few pontiffs who got to have a handover conversation with their predecessor. He ascended to the throne of St Peter in 2013, following the resignation of Benedict XVI. He was the first Jesuit pope and the first from the southern hemisphere.He was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires. The son of Italian immigrants, he was ordained a priest in December 1969 and his ascent up the Jesuit hierarchy occurred against a grim backdrop. In 1973 he was appointed provincial of the Jesuits, the effective leader of the order in Argentina. Then, in 1976, Argentina’s military seized power. Several of Bergoglio’s fellow Jesuits were among the thousands who were tortured, murdered or, as the gruesome euphemism had it, “disappeared” during the dictatorship.In 1998, Bergoglio was appointed archbishop of Buenos Aires. It was in this role that he established himself as an ascetic maverick. He rejected the official residence for a downtown apartment and ditched his chauffeur for the bus. Even as pope, Francis cut a less ostentatious dash than his predecessors: he abjured ceremonial dress and preferred the Vatican’s guesthouse to the papal residence in the Apostolic Palace.