Pope Francis marks this Tuesday 31 years since his consecration as Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, conferred by Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, then Archbishop of the Argentine capital, on June 27, 1992.

Along with Cardinal Quarracino, Monsignor Ubaldo Calabresi, the Apostolic Nuncio to Argentina at the time, participated in the Episcopal consecration Mass at the Cathedral of Buenos Aires. Also present was Monsignor Emilio Ogñénovich, the Bishop of Mercedes.

Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio learned that he would be Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires on May 13, 1992, the day of Our Lady of Fatima, as he recounted years later in the biographical book “The Jesuit,” written by journalists Sergio Rubín and Francesca Ambrogetti. Upon hearing the news of his appointment, the Pontiff said his initial reaction was surprising. “I froze. As I mentioned before, as a consequence of a blow, good or bad, I always freeze. And my first reaction is, also, always negative.”

The appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, approved by Pope St. John Paul II, was made public on May 20, 1992.

In May 1997, five years after his ordination, it was the same Nuncio Calabresi who informed him that the pilgrim Pope had decided that he would be the new Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires, a diocese in which he served until 2013, the year he was elected Successor of St. Peter.

This article was originally published on ACI Prensa.