Before becoming Pope Francis, Fr. Jorge Bergoglio, as a Jesuit priest in Argentina, served the Jesuit order and the Church in a variety of functions: professor, spiritual director, master of novices, provincial, and eventually Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires. This fascinating new look at Pope Francis presents the personal insights of ten Jesuits, many who have known him since his first days as a Jesuit, and were interviewed for this book shortly after he was elected the Pope. Some were his professors, some his peers, and some younger Jesuits who were his students. Also interviewed for this book are non-Jesuits, including an Argentine senator, a prominent rabbi, a priest working in the slums of Buenos Aires that Bergoglio often visited. Their remarks are focused on different aspects of the man, including his family background, his abilities, and his personality as administrator, as friend, as teacher, as a guide, etc. Some of the predominant aspects of his personality to emerge are his longstanding simplicity and authentic spirituality; his concern for the individual and the poor; his desire for the Church to go out to the street to meet the needs of the people. More controversial issues discussed include his dealing with the issue of "Liberation Theology" and his relationship with the military regime in Argentina. These interviews essentially transmit a mosaic that reveals little-known insights of the pontiff's personality, of his interior world, his human abilities, his work habits, his devotions, his concerns, and his friendships. Thus, they open a fascinating door to a better understanding of the man whom the Holy Spirit has elected to lead the Church at this time.
Before becoming Pope Francis, Fr. Jorge Bergoglio, as a Jesuit priest in Argentina, served the Jesuit order and the Church in a variety of functions: professor, spiritual director, master of novices, provincial, and eventually Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires. This fascinating new look at Pope Francis presents the personal insights of ten Jesuits, many who have known him since his first days as a Jesuit, and were interviewed for this book shortly after he was elected the Pope. Some were his professors, some his peers, and some younger Jesuits who were his students. Also interviewed for this book are non-Jesuits, including an Argentine senator, a prominent rabbi, a priest working in the slums of Buenos Aires that Bergoglio often visited. Their remarks are focused on different aspects of the man, including his family background, his abilities, and his personality as administrator, as friend, as teacher, as a guide, etc. Some of the predominant aspects of his personality to emerge are his longstanding simplicity and authentic spirituality; his concern for the individual and the poor; his desire for the Church to go out to the street to meet the needs of the people. More controversial issues discussed include his dealing with the issue of "Liberation Theology" and his relationship with the military regime in Argentina. These interviews essentially transmit a mosaic that reveals little-known insights of the pontiff's personality, of his interior world, his human abilities, his work habits, his devotions, his concerns, and his friendships. Thus, they open a fascinating door to a better understanding of the man whom the Holy Spirit has elected to lead the Church at this time.
Since his surprise appointment in March 2013, Pope Francis has emerged as the most talked-about and most revolutionary pope in living memory. He has become a subject of fascination, conversation, and headlines not only to the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world, but to virtually everyone. This biography of Pope Francis describes how this revolutionary thinker became who he is, and how he will use the power of his position to challenge and redirect one of the world's most formidable religions. Drawing on extensive interviews in Argentina and other countries and now featuring an updated epilogue, The Great Reformer traces the roots of his papacy in Francis's childhood in Buenos Aires, in his Jesuit training, and in the dramatic events during the Pern era and the military government in Argentina in the 1970s. It shows how these experiences have shaped his beliefs, and with his commitment to the discernment of God's will, enabled him to challenge and redirect the Church. Pope Francis was elected in the midst of one of the biggest crises in the Church in modern times. This is the story of a true radical who is transforming the Church by restoring what it has lost.
Pope Francis's life and ground-breaking leadership are brought to life for young readers in this lyrical and inspirational picture book biography. Jorge Bergoglio was a typical boy growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, jumping into pick-up soccer games and listening to lively music on the city streets. His grandma Rosa taught him the importance of doing good and inspired his passion to help others. This passion and years of hard work led him to become a Jesuit priest, a bishop, and then a cardinal. And now the world knows Jorge by a different name--Pope Francis. As the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has focused on another word for pope: "pontiff," a person who builds bridges to reach everyone, no matter who they are. Speaking out on the most important issues of our time, he has become an influential voice in our world--a true pontiff, a builder of bridges. This story of how an ordinary boy became a beloved world leader will inspire and inform readers of all ages.
For the past two years Pope Francis has enchanted and bewildered the world in equal measure with his compassion and his contradictions. Expanding greatly on his acclaimed earlier book Pope Francis: Untying the Knots, Paul Vallely reexamines the complex past of Jorge Mario Bertoglio and adds nine new chapters, revealing many untold, behind-the-scenes stories from his first years in office that explain this Pope of paradoxes. Vallely lays bare the intrigue and in-fighting surrounding Francis's attempt to cleanse the scandal-ridden Vatican Bank. He unveils the ambition and arrogance of top bureaucrats resisting the Pope's reform of the Roman Curia, as well as the hidden opposition at the highest levels that is preventing the Church from tackling the sex abuse crisis. He explains the ambivalence of Pope Francis towards the role of women in the Church, which has frustrated American Catholic women in particular. And Vallely charts the battle lines that are being drawn between Francis and conservatives and traditionalists talking of schism in this struggle for the soul of the Catholic Church. Consistently Francis has show a willingness to discuss issues previously considered taboo, such as the ban on those who divorce and remarry receiving Communion, his liberal instincts outraging traditionalists in the Vatican and especially in the Church hierarchy in the United States. At the same time, many of his statements have reassured conservative elements that he is not, in fact, as radical as he might appear. Behind the icon of simplicity that Pope Francis projects is a steely and sophisticated politician who has learned from the many mistakes of his past. The Pope with the winning smile was previously a bitterly divisive figure. In his decade as leader of Argentina's Jesuits left that religious order deeply split. His behavior during Argentina's Dirty War, when military death squads snatched innocent people from the streets, raised serious questions. Yet after a period of exile and what he has revealed as 'a time of great interior crisis' he underwent an extraordinary transformation - on which Vallely sheds new and fascinating light. The man who had been a strict conservative authoritarian was radically converted into a listening participative leader who became Bishop of the Slums, making enemies among Argentina's political classes in the process. Charting Francis's remarkable journey to the Vatican and his first years at work there, Paul Vallely has produced a deeply nuanced and insightful portrait of perhaps the most influential person in the world today. 'Pope Francis,' he writes, 'has not just demonstrated a different way of being a pope. He has shown the world a different way of being a Catholic.'
In The Roots of Pope Francis’s Social and Political Thought Thomas R. Rourke traces the development of Pope Francis’s thinking from his time as a Jesuit provincial through today. Meticulously researched, the book draws on decades of previously untranslated writings from Father Jorge Bergoglio, SJ, who went on to become archbishop and cardinal; this volume also references his recent writings as pope. The book explores the deepest roots of Pope Francis’s thinking, beginning with the experience of the Jesuit missions in Argentina (1500s – 1700s), showing how both the success and tragedy of the missions profoundly formed his social and political views. Subsequent chapters explore influences from the Second Vatican Council through today regarding culture, politics, and economics. In Pope Francis’s understanding, there is a perpetual tension between the attempts to redeem the social order through the Gospel and the never-ending attempts to dominate peoples and their lands through a variety of imperial projects that come from the powerful. What emerges is a profoundly Christian approach to the social, political, and economic problems of our time. The Pope is portrayed as an original thinker, independent of ideological currents, rooted in the Gospels and the tradition of Catholic social thought. In a time of division and violence, the writings of Pope Francis often point to the path of peace and justice.
A Pope Francis Lexicon is a collection of over fifty essays by an impressive set of insightful contributors from around the globe, each writing on a specific word that has become important in the ministry of Pope Francis. Writers such as Sr. Simone Campbell, Cardinal Blase Cupich, Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, Fr. James Martin, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby, and Carolyn Woo explore the Pope’s use of words like joy, clericalism, money, family, and tears. Together, they reveal what Francis’s use of these words says about him, his ministry and priorities, and their significance to the church, the world, and the lives of individual Christians. The entire collection is introduced by a foreword by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide, and a preface by one of Francis’s closest advisors, Cardinal Seán O'Malley. This is no set of encyclopedia entries. It’s a reflective, inspiring, and often heartfelt book that offers engaging answers to the question “What is this surprising Pope up to?” Themes and Contributors: Volume foreword Patriarch Bartholomew Volume preface Cardinal Seán O'Malley, OFM Cap Baptism Cardinal Donald Wuerl Benedict XVI David Gibson Capitalism Bishop Robert McElroy Careerism Cardinal Joseph Tobin, C.Ss.R. Church Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig Clerical abuse Francis Sullivan Clericalism Archbishop Paul-André Durocher Collegiality Archbishop Mark Coleridge Conscience Austen Ivereigh Creation Orthodox Fr. John Chryssavgis Curia Massimo Faggioli Dialogue Archbishop Roberto González Nieves, OFM Dignity Tina Beattie Discernment Fr. James Martin, SJ Ecumenism Nontando Hadebe Embrace Simcha Fisher Encounter Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández Episcopal Accountability Katie Grimes Family Julie Hanlon Rubio Field Hospital Cardinal Blase Cupich Flesh Msgr. Dario E. Viganò Gossip Kaya Oakes Grandparents Bill Dodds Hagen Lio Fr. Manuel Dorantes Hope Natalia Imperatori-Lee Immigrant Sr. Norma Seni Pimentel, MJ Indifference Sr. Carmen Sammut, MSOLA Jesus Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ Joy Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP Judgment Michael O'Loughlin Justice Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS Leadership Kerry Alys Robinson Legalism Sr. Teresa Forcades i Vila, OSB Martyrdom Bishop Borys Gudziak Mercy Archbishop Donald Bolen Miracles John Thavis Money Andrea Tornielli Periphery Carolyn Y. Woo Prayer Bishop Daniel E. Flores Reform Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB Refugee Rhonda Miska Saint Francis Fr. Michael Perry, OFM Satan Gregory K. Hillis Second Vatican Council Archbishop Diarmuid Martin Service Phyllis Zagano Sheep Archbishop Justin Welby Sourpuss Fr James Corkery, SJ Tears Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle Throwaway culture Sr. Pat Farrell, OSF Women Astrid Lobo Gajiwala Worldliness Mollie Wilson O'Reilly Youth Jordan Denari Duffner
Key Words of Pope Francis is a collection of over 50 essays by an impressive set of insightful contributors from around the globe, each writing on a specific word that has become important in the ministry of Pope Francis. Writers such as Fr Timothy Radcliffe, Archbishop Justin Welby, Sr Simone Campbell, Cardinal Blase Cupich, Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, Fr James Martin, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and Carolyn Woo explore the Pope's use of words like joy, clericalism, field hospital, money, family and tears. Together, they reveal what Francis's use of these words says about him, his ministry and priorities, and their significance to the church, the world, and the lives of individual Christians. The entire collection is introduced by a foreword by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide, and a preface by one of Francis's closest advisers, Cardinal Seán O'Malley. This is no set of encyclopaedia entries. It is instead a reflective, inspiring, and often heartfelt book that offers engaging answers to the question 'What is this surprising Pope up to?'
St. Joseph, husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus, is central to the Christian story. Yet, so little is known about St. Joseph, either as an historical figure or as recorded in scripture. Much of what we understand about Joseph comes to us from tradition, art, and the lived experience of the faithful over the centuries. Sister of St. Joseph of Peace Susan Rose Francois reflects on her growing spiritual friendship with St. Joseph, who she affectionately calls her friend Joe. Inspired by photographs of Joseph taken by the author, she reflects on her personal encounters with Joseph in conversation with church tradition around this saint. Through art, prose, history, and prayer she encourages the reader to discover, or deepen, their own spiritual friendship with St. Joseph.
This book engages thinkers from different religious and humanist traditions in response to Pope Francis’s pronouncements on interreligious dialogue. The contributors write from the perspectives of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Humanism. Each author elaborates on how the pope’s openness to dialogue and invitation to practical collaboration on global concerns represents a significant achievement as the world faces an uncertain future. The theological tension within the Catholic double commitment to evangelization on the one hand, and dialogue on the other, remains unresolved for most writers, but this does not prevent them from praising the strong invitation to dialogue–especially with the focus on justice, peace, and ecological sustainability.
Fratelli Tutti sets out the pope's vision for a postpandemic world. This study edition helps readers pray with the text, reflect on it and look for connections with the canon of Cathollic social teaching, and ultimately leads us toward action that builds "communities of belonging and solidarity."
Sets out the pope's vision for a postpandemic world--a preoccupation of his homilies and addresses in the Covid-19 period. In Pope Francis's thinking, care for each other--particularly the poorest and most marginalized in society--cannot be divided from care for creation.
