As the first Latin American to lead the Catholic Church in 1,300 years, a trained chemist and former nightclub bouncer whose liberal leanings riled conservative members of the Papacy, Pope Francis I sometimes found himself at odds with his cardinals. The pontiff, who died aged 88 yesterday just hours after emerging from his convalescence to bless the thousands of people in St Peter's Square on Easter Sunday, said he wanted “a Church which is poor and for the poor” following his election.

Even his name Francis, in honour of St Francis of Assisi, was inspired by a Brazilian colleague who whispered in his ear “don’t forget the poor” when it was announced Jorge Mario Bergoglio had been appointed head of the Catholic Church. Before his election on March 13, 2013, reportedly during the fifth ballot of the Conclave, he had been a cardinal since 2001, living in a modest apartment rather than his lavish official residence and taking public transport rather than an official limousine.

He was also the first Pope from the Jesuit order, which has been the greatest missionary force for Catholicism across the world since the 16th century, when he was inaugurated on March 19, 2013. His informality and charm won many admirers, and he was undoubtedly the most liberal and overtly political of the modern popes. Yet despite his popularity among ordinary people, the Pope, whose death came weeks after he was discharged from hospital having battled a life-threatening case of pneumonia, often inspired frustration within the Vatican where he was sometimes perceived as a progressive who abrogated the Church’s clear moral doctrines.

Breaking tradition with an era of conservatism during the reigns of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Pope Francis divided the church by issuing an opening to divorced and civilly married Catholics to receive Communion, defended mass migration and empowered priests to bless same-sex couples declaring just three days into his papacy: “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”

During his 12 years as Pontiff, he had showers installed for the homeless in St Peter’s Square, found a barber who would offer free weekly haircuts for them, and was known to invite beggars to breakfast on his birthday – moving the dialogue from personal morality towards climate change and direct help of the poor. Some described this radical agenda to reform the Church and better equip it for the modern world as the “Francis revolution” and, indeed, many who had been alienated returned, or looked with fresh eyes at the institution.

But he courted controversy in 2022 by refusing to explicitly condemn Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – the Vatican maintained dialogue with the pro-Putin Russian Orthodox Church – and remained conciliatory to China, sparking accusations he had “abandoned” the underground church in the communist country. Despite this, the Pope proved a popular figure to many who believed he shone a spotlight on global suffering and inequality. Preferring white cassocks to the gold crosses and red velvet “mozzetta” cape of his predecessors, he spoke just as simply and plainly.

And despite the potential danger to life, he eschewed using a custom-made Popemobile until his final days. Once he did, he preferred to ride open top rather than creating a physical divide with bullet-proof glass. Once asked about the risk of being shot, he replied: “I think every day about my dying. This does not distress me.”

Even in death, which shocked millions of Catholics after he had appeared to overcome a double pneumonia battle lasting five weeks, Pope Francis opted for simplicity and a break with tradition. The 267th pontiff chose a plain wooden coffin lined with zinc. Mourners will be asked to pay their respects while his body lies inside with the lid removed – typically, the Pope’s body is placed on a raised platform, known as a catafalque, for public viewing inside St Peter’s Basilica.

Furthermore, he will become the first Pope in more than a century to be buried outside the Vatican, lying in the Basilica of St Mary Major, one of the four major papal basilicas in Rome because of his "very strong connection" with the church. Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903, was the last pope not buried at St Peter's. Asked about the preparations for the papal funeral service in 2023, he joked: "We simplified them quite a bit," adding: "I will premiere the new ritual."

Jose Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, the eldest of five children of Italian immigrants who had fled facism. His father, Mario José, was an accountant employed by the railways after emigrating from Piedmont, while his mother, Regina (née Sívori), had her roots in neighbouring Liguria.

Although the family lived in the middle-class district of Flores, they had little money. Before leaving Italy, his father had stitched his savings into his coat pockets. But while money was tight, love was plentiful, as Francis recalled in later life about his childhood: “We had nothing to spare, no car, and we didn’t go away on holiday over the summer, but we still never wanted for anything.” The children spoke Spanish but learnt to speak Piedmontese from their grandmother Rosa, a devout Catholic. The young Jose was said to love tango dancing and football, supporting his local team San Lorenzo.

Tragedy struck the family after Regina became paralysed after the birth of her fifth child. The young Jose helped by cooking for his mother along with his siblings. He attended a school run by the Salesians, a religious congregation of Catholic male followers, often rising early to serve masses for the priests. From there, he went to a technical school where he obtained a diploma in chemistry and worked as a nightclub bouncer and floor sweeper until qualifying to work as a chemical technician.

His mother hoped he would become a doctor but young Jorge felt a calling from God. He was admittedly not without temptation on this journey.

In his 2024 memoir titled Life: My Story Through History, he confessed to once being so “dazzled” by a girl he met at his uncle’s wedding that he briefly considered giving up on the priesthood. “I was surprised by her beauty, her intellectual brilliance … and, well, I was bowled over for quite a while,” he wrote. “I kept thinking and thinking about her. When I returned to the seminary after the wedding, I could not pray for over a week because when I tried to do so, the girl appeared in my head. I had to rethink what I was doing.”

But after the moment passed, Jose entered the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto, in Buenos Aires, and joined the Society of Jesus in 1958.

Around this time, aged 21, he suffered a severe bout of pneumonia and had part of one lung removed. This left him susceptible to periodic respiratory infections. In later life, he suffered colon and heart conditions.

After studying a degree in philosophy at the Colegio de San José in San Miguel, he taught literature and psychology for several years before being ordained on December 13, 1969, shortly before his 33rd birthday. In 1973, after rising through the ranks, the 36-year-old was appointed Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina. Three years later, as Argentina’s armed forces seized the country in a brutal coup, his detractors claimed he did little to oppose its generals publicly. He was also accused of standing by as two Jesuits priests were kidnapped and tortured during Argentinian’s so-called Dirty War. The two men were later found heavily sedated and semi-naked. Behind closed doors, he supported at-risk Argentinians by hiding them and helping them to flee the country.

In 1998, upon the death of Cardinal Quarracino, he was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires but there was a sense his superiors did not know what long-term path he was on, even in 2001 when John Paul II named him Cardinal.

Then, in 2005, his appointment as Pope brought him internal conflict. He reportedly begged other cardinals to desist from appointing him, to no avail, after learning he had come second in a secret vote for John Paul II’s successor.

But upon being named, he immediately set about his radical shake-up of the Vatican. Within his first month of service, he had washed the feet of 12 inmates at a prison in Rome on Maundy Thursday in an imitation of Christ’s washing of his disciples feet the night before his crucifixion. Controversially, he also washed the feet of women and a Muslim, establishing a new way of doing things against traditional Catholic protocols. It was a declaration of a new way of doing things, which he never shied away from since.

Despite increasingly fragile health, Francis was renowned for his stamina, typically rising at 4am to pray. Finally illness caught up with him on Valentine’s Day when a bout of bronchitis worsened into double pneumonia. For a while it was touch and go but in recent weeks there had been hopes he was recovering. That is until news broke around the world yesterday of his passing, just hours after his final moving appearance, blessing the faithful in St Peter’s Square.

In a statement yesterday, the Vatican said: “He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalised.”

King Charles was among those world leaders paying tribute, hailing Pope Francis for touching "the lives of so many".

As to whether the Catholic Church now swings back to conservatism under a new leader, remains to be seen. And while it is too early to judge Papacy in its entirety, and only time will tell how he is considered, it cannot be denied that there was definitely something radical about Francis – the former bouncer who took a tough stance against dogma.