The Pope visited the U.S. this week. Before this past week, Pope Francis had never visited the U.S. He arrived on Tuesday, Sept. 22 in Washington D.C. While he was here, he visited many American trademarks, such as the White House, 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and Madison Square Garden. He spent time in Washington D.C., New York, and Philadelphia. People from all across the world came to witness Francis’ first U.S. visit, some from as far as Spain and France. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Philadelphia to attend his final Mass on Sunday. 

While Francis is such an important member of the church and a significant figure outside of it, there are many things that go unnoticed about him. Here is a list of some fun facts about Francis:

1.) Francis carries his own black satchel while traveling, he does not expect it to be carried for him.

2.) In Buenos Aires, he was once a bouncer in a night club. 

3.) His mother did not approve of him becoming a priest at first, being her first son she expected him to study chemistry. 

4.) Francis has a master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires.

5.) The Swiss Guard keeps him up-to-date on the scores of the Argentinian soccer team, because he has not watched TV in 25 years!

6.) The pontiff is a fan of wine; his grandfather was a winemaker in Italy. 

7.) He is the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III in 741.

8.) He is a man of many languages, speaking fluently in Spanish, Latin and Italian. He understands German, French, Portuguese, English and Ukrainian.

9.) He is a humble man, he flew to Rome in the economy class and in Buenos Aires he was known to ride the bus. 

10.) Due to an infection he had when he was younger, the pontiff only had one functioning lung after part of his right lung was removed.