Millions of us are glued to the news these days, worried about Pope Francis. The 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church has been in the hospital since February 14, in critical condition with a double pneumonia. As the world prays for him, the Vatican released another update on his health today. “The pope had a tranquil night and is resting,” the Vatican said.
Over on social media, other news of the Pope made thousands smile. It was a long forgotten fact about “The People’s Pope.” An Instagram post by RocaHistory read: “Pope Francis (then Jorge Mario Bergoglio) … was once a bouncer at a nightclub and a janitor. Then he became a priest … now he’s the Pope and currently in critical condition.”
RocaHistory is right. The Pope was a janitor and a bouncer.
On Instagram user commented: “Imagine getting kicked out of the club by the future pope.”
Long before he was leading the Catholic Church, Pope Francis was leading the door staff at a Buenos Aires nightclub. The man known for mercy and inclusion once had to decide who got in and who was left outside. But how did a bouncer become the pope?
A Life That Led Pope Francis to the Vatican
Growing up, the “First Pope of the Americas” Jorge Mario Bergoglio worked various jobs to support himself. Born into a large, modest family, in Argentina, he wasn’t wealthy and took whatever work he could find. Among those jobs? A nightclub bouncer.
“What’s funny now is you can imagine Pope Francis being the worst bouncer in the world,” the CNN team joked on air, 12 years ago. “I mean, judging by his nature, he’d let everyone in. ‘Come on in the nightclub!’ He’d probably buy them a drink once they got there. That’s the way he’s been as Pope. It’s a wonderful little tidbit to learn about his life.”
His brief time as a bouncer, however, was just one stop on a winding road to priesthood. At 24, he says he felt a calling from God and applied to a Jesuit seminary in Chile. Accepted into the order, he began his spiritual journey. He earned a Master’s degree in Philosophy and also studied Chemistry, which later allowed him to teach literature and psychology at the university level.
Did His Time as a Bouncer Shape His Papacy?
The public first found out about his many jobs from the Pope himself. During a talk at a church in Rome, in 2013. “… the Pope talked about sweeping floors, working in a chemical lab and teaching in high school,” NPR reported at the time. “All jobs that would help explain his now famous common touch. But he also revealed that he was once a bouncer.”
Many now wonder if those nights watching over the entrance of a Buenos Aires nightclub shaped the way he leads as Pope. As they pray for a speedy recovery, they find comfort in his past. The Pope worked hard, like so many of his followers.
CNN summed it up the best way, by saying that Pope Francis has “totally earned” his reputation as “Pope of the People.”
