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6 Fun Facts About Pope Francis

With all the Pope-mania in Philly and NYC, my 6 year old has been asking questions about him and I find that I am woefully unequipped to answer them (even the easy ones). So, we sat down with her list and did some research. Here’s what we found out!

  1. What’s the Pope’s real name? Pope Francis was born on December 17, 1936 and christened Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
  2. Where was the Pope born? Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is the first Pope from the Americas, although his father was an Italian immigrant, who left Italy during Mussolini’s reign.
  3. Does the Pope have any brothers or sisters? Pope Francis is the oldest of five children, 3 boys and 2 girls.
  4. What did the Pope like most about school? Ok, we don’t know the answer to this one for sure, but he does have a Master’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, so he definitely likes science! The Pope has also taught literature, so he’s clearly a reader as well.
  5. Is there another name for the Pope? This was a fun one to research and answer! The Pope goes by lots of names, including Papa (my Spanish speaking daughter’s favorite), Holy Father, Bishop of Rome, Supreme Pastor, His Holiness, The Rock (um, ok), Supreme Pontiff, Father of Kings, Successor of St. Peter, Shepherd of the Universal Church, just to name a few.
  6. Who was the first Pope? According to Roman Catholic Church, St. Peter was given authority by Jesus to rule the church, thus making him the first Pope. Since St. Peter, there have been 265 Popes, including #266, Pope Francis himself.

Share these fun facts with your kiddos over this long, long weekend during his visit to Philly. Whether you’re Catholic, Methodist, Agnostic or Other, this is a truly historical event and imparting that significance to our children is a wonderful thing.

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Mollie Michel is a South Philly resident and a Philadelphia public school parent. A recovering non-profit professional, Mollie is also an experienced birth doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, and the mom of two awesome girls and a sweet pit bull named Princess Cleopatra. In her spare time, she is usually trying to figure out how Pinterest works, training for a(nother) half-marathon with her dog at her side, or simply trying to keep up with her increasingly wily daughters.