SW News: The ongoing Digital Synod has launched an online prayer initiative to mark the tenth anniversary of the pontificate of Pope Francis on March 13. The Holy Father was elected Supreme Pontiff on this same day in 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI stepped down from the papacy.

To highlight this milestone anniversary in a “viral” manner, the Digital Synod has launched a special online map featuring virtual lighted candles representing the prayers of the faithful worldwide for the Holy Father.

Anyone who wishes to join the initiative will find an invitation on the website to pray one or more Hail Marys. "In the end we will send the Holy Father the map with the 'little candles' which represent the Hail Marys that are prayed for him, thanking God for His Mercy, " said the press release of the Digital Synod.

Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina. The son of Italian immigrants, he was born on December 17, 1936, in the capital Buenos Aires. His mother Regina Sivori was a loving woman committed to raising their five children, while his father Mario was an accountant employed by the railways. After earning his degree as a chemical technician, he decided to become a priest and enrolled at the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto.

He finished his humanities studies in Chile before returning to Argentina in 1963 to earn a philosophy degree from Colegio de San José in San Miguel. He taught psychology and literature at Immaculate Conception College in Santa Fe from 1964 to 1965, and at Colegio del Salvatore in Buenos Aires in 1966. He studied religion from 1967 to 1970, earning a degree from Colegio de San José.

He received his priestly ordination from Archbishop Ramón José Castellano on December 13, 1969. At the University of Alcalá de Henares in Spain, he continued his education in 1970 and 1971 and was chosen Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina on July 31, 1973. He served in that capacity for six years. He then began his career in higher education, serving from 1980 to 1986 as a parish priest in San Miguel and the Rector of Colegio de San José.

On March 13, 2013, Cardinal Bergoglio was elected as the new pope. In addition to being the first pope from South America, he was also the first Jesuit to become the successor of St Peter. Francis's papacy placed a strong emphasis on standing up for the weak and disadvantaged, and from the beginning, he encouraged a wide-ranging ministry that aspired to embrace not only non-Catholic Christians but even non-Christians.