Francis: A pope of many firsts

Clarification: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified a lung surgery Bergoglio had when he was young. The Vatican clarified the operation removed part of one lung.

When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named as the new pope at the Vatican on Wednesday, he kicked off a series of firsts:

-- First pontiff from the Americas

-- First South American pope, representing the largest Catholic population in the world

-- First Jesuit pope

-- First pope to pick the name Francis

-- First pope to be elected after a papal resignation (in the modern era).

-- First tweet sent from the official papal account on Twitter @pontifex after Francis was chosen: "HABEMUS PAPAM FRANCISCUM"

Other interesting facts about the new pope:

-- Despite being Argentina's top church official, Bergoglio never lived in ornate church mansion in Buenos Aires, preferring a simple bed in a downtown room heated by a small stove. For years, he took public transportation around the city, and cooked his own meals.

-- Couldn't prevent Argentina from becoming the first Latin American country to legalize gay marriage, or stop its president, Cristina Fernandez, from promoting free contraception and artificial insemination. When Bergoglio argued that gay adoptions discriminate against children, Fernandez compared his tone to "medieval times and the Inquisition."

-- Critics accuse him of failing to stand up publicly against the country's military dictatorship from 1976-1983, when victims and their relatives often brought first-hand accounts of torture, death and kidnappings.

-- Bergoglio reportedly received the second-most votes after Joseph Ratzinger in the 2005 papal election.

Contributing: The Associated Press