You are a wonder of creation. This represents Pope Francis' story for you.

Even when your face is lined with worries or fatigue, remember that you are always a light that shines through the night. This is the greatest gift you've ever received, and no one can take it away from you. Never stop dreaming. Believe in even greater and more beautiful truths. Let yourself be surprised by love. This is what it means to Live Well. This is the greatest and most beautiful wish we can extend to each other.

Joy - the wholesome and concrete kind, the joy we have all been searching for since birth - will be the natural outcome. It won't be an easy path; life's difficulties and the pervasive pessimism and cynicism of our era will periodically make it difficult to recognize and welcome grace into our life.

But the late pope guarantees us that it is precisely when we open our hearts to providence and allow tenderness and mercy to enter that life becomes beautiful. We can always begin again. God can rebuild a story within us from the fragments.

Let yourself be inspired by Pope Francis' 15 Rules for a Good Life, revel in the wondrous creation that you are, and savour the experience of what it means to live authentically.

The first Pope of the Americas, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, hailed from Argentina. The Jesuit former Archbishop of Buenos Aires was a prominent figure throughout the continent, yet remained a simple pastor who was deeply loved by his diocese, throughout which he travelled extensively on the underground and by bus during the 15 years of his episcopal ministry.

He was born in Buenos Aires on 17 December 1936, the son of Italian immigrants. His father Mario was an accountant employed by the railways and his mother Regina Sivori was a committed wife dedicated to raising their five children. He graduated as a chemical technician and then chose the path of the priesthood, entering the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto. On 11 March 1958 he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus. He completed his studies of the humanities in Chile and returned to Argentina in 1963 to graduate with a degree in philosophy from the Colegio de San José in San Miguel. From 1964 to 1965 he taught literature and psychology at Immaculate Conception College in Santa Fé and in 1966 he taught the same subject at the Colegio del Salvatore in Buenos Aires. From 1967-70 he studied theology and obtained a degree from the Colegio of San José.

He was elected Supreme Pontiff on 13 March 2013 in the conclave following the resignation of Benedict XVI and died in 2025, succeeded by Leo XIV.