Jorge Mario Bergoglio was 17 years old when he first received his vocation to become a priest. It happened on Sept. 21, 1953 – the beginning of spring in Buenos Aires – during a spontaneous visit to the confessional, or what Catholics call the sacrament of reconciliation.
This spiritual turning point for the future Pope Francis has been widely reported. Less known is that his divine calling happened en route to a student gathering that would have involved food, music and dancing the Argentine tango.
Although he wound up skipping the festival, the tango still runs deep within Pope Francis. In 2014, thousands of Catholics gathered in St. Peter’s Square to honor the pope’s Dec. 17 birthday with his homeland’s famous dance. Now, a decade later, he is turning 88 and looking back. His autobiography – the first published by a sitting pope – will be published in January 2025.
