Here are three facts you may not know about Francis, the 266th and current Pope:
- He was a bar bouncer.
During a visit to a church in a working class neighborhood in Rome, the pope revealed to a group of parishioners that he was a bar bouncer when he was younger. After divulging this surprising piece of information, he stated “the hypocrisy is a grave sin”, and that he hoped this level of transparency would contribute to the church’s growth.
2. He only has one lung.
At 21, he suffered an infection so bad he had to have his lung removed. Interestingly, the church has not released a statement about which specific ailment prompted this removal. So much curiosity has been raised around the issue that there are entire forums debating every possible diagnosis from tuberculosis to a really bad whooping cough, but they have yet to settle on a sickness.
3. He doesn’t know English.
While the pope is well-versed in Spanish, German, Italian, and even a bit of the Piedmontaise dialect, he has not yet learned English. During his visit to the United States, he spoke completely in Spanish.