With a void left by the unexpected resignation of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in February, Vatican officials were left with the significant task of finding a new spiritual leader for the Roman Catholic Church. On March 13, 2013, white smoke floated into the evening sky from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel signaling that a final decision had been made. The church’s new leader would be 76-year-old Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio — now known to the world as Pope Francis.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a family of Italian immigrants, Bergoglio’s father, Mario José, was an accountant for the railways, while his mother, Regina Maria Sivori, raised Bergoglio and his four siblings. Bergoglio graduated with a chemical technician’s diploma, and took a job in his field. But even as a student he knew he would eventually become a priest. “While I was there I felt that I had to become a priest, and I didn’t doubt it,” Bergoglio commented during a radio interview in 2012.

Pope Francis eventually did leave his job and entered the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto in Argentina and was ordained a priest on December 13, 1969. After being appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, Bergoglio was granted another title, Cardinal, by Pope John Paul II in 2001. Bergoglio did something different when he was appointed Cardinal — he asked that no one travel to Rome to celebrate his new title, but instead to donate the money they would have spent on the trip to the poor. It was a sign of many untraditional, yet remarkable acts of progressive leadership to come.

“My people are poor, and I am one of them,” has been a longtime mantra of Pope Francis — a name he chose when he was appointed in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, who also dedicated his life to helping the poor. Pope Francis believes that the Catholic Church should focus on more crucial matters, like poverty, and has met with world leaders, including World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro to discuss ways in which poverty can be eradicated around the world.

Straying from tradition, the new pope has passed on the fancy papal quarters, opting to stay where he had lived with the other cardinals before his appointment and even cooking his own meals. He also refused to wear the expensive vestments typically worn by popes, like the infamous, swagged-out, custom-made, red slippers of his predecessor. Shaking things up a bit more, Pope Francis even shunned the “pope mobile.” Instead he rides around on buses and uses a Renault with well over 190,000 miles, often stopping to greet the public without worrying about his safety.

Pope Francis previously made headlines for his personal beliefs regarding homosexuality and the Catholic Church. When asked about his stance during a press conference, he stated, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” His sentiments are drastically different from his predecessors.

His humility, compassion and his effort to bridge gaps between people of different class, sexual orientation, race and religion, have made this pope one of the people and respected around the world by many in the short time he has held the title — for this we recognize him accordingly.