CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 A FUTURE LEADER Is BORN CHAPTER 2 BEcoMING THE POPE 16 CHAPTER 3 THE COMPASSIONATE 26 POPE FRANCIS CHAPTER 4 STANDING UP FOR OTHERS 34 43 TIMELINE of ACHIEVEMENTS OTHER LEADERS WHO HAVE MADE 44 A DIFFERENCE GLOSSARY 45 FOR MORE INFORMATION 46 INDEX 47 ITT
I N T ROD Pope Francis has been the leader of the Roman Catholic Church for only a short time but his message of love peace and tolerance is already being heard around the
U CTION he world's population is greater than six billion About 1 2 billion of those people are Roman Catholic which means they believe in a certain kind of Christianity Catholicism is one of the oldest religions in the world The leader of the Roman Catholic Church is the pope For almost two thousand years different popes have led the church and its followers through some of the most important moments in world history But in 2013 the Roman Catholic Church experienced an important moment of its own the election of Pope Francis I Pope Francis became the pope in March 2013 when the acting pope at the time Benedict XVI stepped down from his position Since then Francis has become known for reaching out to the poor and helping people in need Above all he is known for being compassionate His behavior is quite different from that of previous popes which makes many people excited for the church s future Though he hasn t been pope for long Francis is already changing the church and the world for the better As one of the world s most visible spiritual leaders the new pope has the opportunity to make changes that will affect millions of
