In March 2013, the 76-year-old Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church — the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years and the first Jesuit ever to hold the office. He chose the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi. He died on 21 April 2025 at the age of 88, after a 12-year pontificate that significantly reshaped the modern Catholic Church.

The Family's Roots: Italian Piedmont to Argentina

The Bergoglio family was Italian — originally from Portacomaro, near Asti, in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Francis's grandparents emigrated to Argentina in January 1929 to escape the Italian economic crisis and the rise of fascism, taking the ship Giulio Cesare to Buenos Aires.

Jorge Mario was born in Buenos Aires on 17 December 1936.

His Father: Mario José Bergoglio

Mario José Bergoglio (1908 – 1959) was an Italian-born railway accountant who arrived in Argentina as a 20-year-old with his parents. He died of a heart attack when Jorge Mario was 22.

His Mother: Regina María Sívori

Regina María Sívori (1911 – 1981) was the Italian-Argentine daughter of an Italian immigrant family. She also died relatively young, when Jorge Mario was 44.

His Siblings

Jorge Mario was the eldest of five children:

Marta Regina Bergoglio (1940 – 2007) — younger sister; predeceased him.

Oscar Adrián Bergoglio (1942 – 2010) — younger brother; predeceased him.

Alberto Horacio Bergoglio (1944 – 2010) — younger brother.

María Elena Bergoglio, born 1948 — youngest sister; the only surviving sibling at the time of his death.

His Path to the Papacy

Jorge Mario trained as a chemical technician before entering the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) at age 21 in 1958. He was ordained a priest in 1969. He served as Provincial Superior of the Argentine Jesuits (1973 – 1979), then as Archbishop of Buenos Aires (1998 – 2013) and Cardinal (2001). He was elected Pope on 13 March 2013 and reigned until his death in April 2025.

The Bergoglio Family Tree at a Glance

Family Origins: Italian from Portacomaro, Asti; emigrated to Argentina January 1929.

Parents: Mario José Bergoglio (1908 – 1959); Regina María Sívori (1911 – 1981).

Siblings: Marta (1940 – 2007); Jorge Mario (1936 – 2025); Oscar (1942 – 2010); Alberto (1944 – 2010); María Elena (b. 1948).

Pope Francis: Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936, Buenos Aires; died 21 April 2025, Vatican City (age 88); chemical technician early career; entered the Jesuits 1958; ordained 1969; 266th Pope from 13 March 2013 to 21 April 2025.

What the Bergoglio Family Story Teaches Us

An Italian immigrant family that arrived in Argentina in 1929. A railway-accountant father who died at 51. A homemaker mother. Five children, four of whom predeceased the eldest. A son who became the first non-European pope in over a millennium and shaped a 12-year reform of the Catholic Church.

For every family — large or small, famous or otherwise — the Bergoglio story carries the same lesson. Migration histories are foundational to family identity. The 1929 voyage of the Giulio Cesare from Genoa to Buenos Aires is the most consequential entry in the Bergoglio family tree — without it, there is no Pope Francis. Write down the journeys your family made. Each one is a load-bearing entry on the tree.

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