Pope Francis celebrates 50th ordination anniversary by honoring his mentor
FREE Catholic Classes
Fifty years ago on Dec. 13, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained a Jesuit priest in Argentina. As pope, he will celebrate his ordination anniversary Friday by honoring one of his early spiritual mentors, Fr. Miguel Angel Fiorito.

Fr. Bergoglio
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
12/13/2019 (5 years ago)
Published in Europe
Keywords: POPE FRANCIS, VATICAN CITY, VATICAN
Vatican City, (CNA) - Fifty years ago on Dec. 13, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained a Jesuit priest in Argentina. As pope, he will celebrate his ordination anniversary Friday by honoring one of his early spiritual mentors, Fr. Miguel Angel Fiorito.
Fiorito, 1916-2005, was a Jesuit Argentine priest, professor, and spiritual writer who died when Cardinal Bergoglio was Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
In a preface to a five-volume collection of his writings to be launched Dec. 13, Pope Francis wrote that Fiorito had a "passion for the spiritual exercises," and "taught many to pray and to discern the signs of the times."
The future Pope Francis first met Fiorito as a seminarian, and Fiorito became Bergoglio's spiritual director as he prepared for priestly ordination.
As Jesuit provincial for Argentina, Bergoglio later went on to put Fiorito in charge of the last stage of Jesuit seminary formation.
As a professor of Jesuit spirituality, Fiorito understood that "the spiritual mercy is to teach to discern," Pope Francis wrote in the preface to his spiritual writings which he will present at the General Curia of the Society of Jesus Dec. 13.
"He had a special nose to feel a bad spirit, he knew how to expose him for his bad fruits. He was a man of combat against a single enemy: the bad spirit, satan, the devil, the tempter, the accuser, the enemy of our human nature," he said.
Pope Francis described Fiorito in the preface as both "a man of "dialogue and listening" and "lovable father, a patient master and a firm adversary."
The pope discovered his own vocation to the priesthood as a chemistry student in Argentina after a making a confession with a priest who was dying from leukemia.
"At that moment I felt that I had to become a priest. And I didn't have the slightest hesitation," Bergoglio said in an Italian radio interview in 2013.
In 1958, he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus. He received a philosophy degree in 1963, taught literature and psychology, and then studied theology. He was ordained a priest in 1969. He would go on to serve as Jesuit provincial for Argentina, a seminary rector, a pastor, a professor, and a spiritual director.
Fr. Bergoglio was consecrated an auxiliary bishop of the Buenos Aires archdiocese in In 1992. He became the archdiocese's coadjutor archbishop in 1997, and succeeded as archbishop the following year. St. John Paul II appointed Archbishop Bergoglio a cardinal in 2001.
Pope Francis began his 50th ordination anniversary with a private morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta with all of the cardinals present in Rome. In the evening, he will celebrate with the General Curia of the Society of Jesus as he presents Fiorito's collected writings.
Fr. Fioriti "brought us the divine imprint that the Lord Jesus has impressed on his life: that of the passion for spiritual exercises, which are an instrument for knowing how to feel and taste the Lord's request to our soul and help to cleanse it of all ambiguities," Pope Francis wrote.
---
'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'
Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online
Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

-
-
Mysteries of the Rosary
-
St. Faustina Kowalska
-
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
-
Saint of the Day for Wednesday, Oct 4th, 2023
-
Popular Saints
-
St. Francis of Assisi
-
Bible
-
Female / Women Saints
-
7 Morning Prayers you need to get your day started with God
-
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
St. Valentine: The Patron Saint of Love, Marriage, and Devotion
-
From Sciatica to Surgery: Pope Francis' Ongoing Health Struggles Lead to Latest Hospitalization for ...
-
The Health Benefits of Yogurt: A Gift for the Body and Soul
-
Vice President JD Vance Denounces British Arrests of Pro-Lifers for Silent Prayer
-
Pope Francis Hospitalized for Treatment of Bronchitis, Vatican Confirms
Daily Catholic
Daily Readings for Saturday, February 15, 2025
St. Vincent Pallotti: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Prayer for Aborted Babies: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, January 22, 2025
- Daily Readings for Friday, February 14, 2025
- St. Agnes: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, January 21, 2025
- A Prayer for Friends and Benefactors: Prayer of the Day for Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Copyright 2025 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2025 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.