'He was one of the most heavily politically charged Popes we've had'

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The world has been shaken by the unfortunate news of Pope Francis’s passing. Many Catholics and non-Catholics kept the Pontiff in their thoughts and prayers, and now begin to evaluate his life and legacy.

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Francis, who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1936, was often described as a left-wing Pope. Brent Budowsky depicted Francis in a Nov. 26, 2013, op-ed in The Hill as someone who “can fairly be called a liberal populist reformer on matters of economics, finance, poverty, social justice, education and healthcare.”

He was taught by the Jesuits, whose members emphasize a worldview focused on social justice and awareness and take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. His political sympathies regularly veered to the left like his childhood teachers.

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He opposed the excesses of laissez-faire capitalism and the free market economy, and