"When the white smoke puffed up the conclave chimney, all eyes turned to the Vatican. A little while later, Jorge Mario Bergoglio - now Pope Francis* - emerged. His historic election as the first Pope from South America overshadowed another first: he's a chemist (Over at ChemBark, Paul had leaned in that direction earlier today, but I'm sure he was equally surprised).

Wikipedia, font of all things true and definitive, lists him as a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires, with an M.S. degree in the late 1950s. Ditto the Catholic News Service.

My Spanish is a bit rusty, but the Excelsior (Mexico) and 20Minutos (Spain) label him a 'chemical technician' and 'chemical engineer' respectively. Lisa Balbes helpfully points out that, according to ABC News, one of his first assignments in the church was teaching high school chemistry.

I tried to look up the Pope's peer-reviewed chemistry publications through SciFinder, Reaxys, and Google Scholar, but, alas, I'm unable to find any. Perhaps a more enterprising reader can clue me in if they're more successful...

*Though I'm not Catholic, I appreciate the influence and direction the Pope offers the faithful. I also find it exciting when chemists enter very public walks of life. See, for example, Jack Welch, Margaret Thatcher or John Kuhn."