We reiterate our wishes for his success in his functions as head of State and spiritual leader, the Foreign Ministry stressed in its congratulatory message, published on X.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he served as archbishop from 1998 to 2013, after holding various responsibilities within the ecclesiastical community. He was elected as the 266th pope in the fifth round of voting by the conclave held in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace from March 12-13, 2013.

For the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church a Jesuit, who was not European, was elected as pontiff and received, also for the first time, the pontifical name Francis.

The Pope visited Cuba in September 2015, as part of his pilgrimage to more than 50 countries, and met with the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and then President Raul Castro.

On February 12, 2016, he paid a brief visit to Havana on a stopover on his trip to Mexico, and met here with the Patriarch of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, on which occasion they signed a joint declaration.

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