|
According to Image, the book will provide an “extraordinary
glimpse" into the late pontiff's “hopes and fears, struggles and
prayers.” It will be issued in partnership with Libreria
Editrice Vaticana, or LEV, the Vatican Publishing House.
The writings span from December 1992, just over two decades
before he became pope, to August 2024, eight months before he
died and was succeeded by Pope Leo XIV. The English-language
edition of his private reflections was translated from the
Spanish original by Sister Bernadette Reis and edited and
annotated by Víctor Manuel Fernández, an Argentine cardinal who
heads the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Francis was a native of Argentina
and history's first Latin American pope. He was known for his
down-to-earth style and emphasis on humility, including visits
to poor countries with persecuted Christian minorities rather
than the traditional strongholds of Catholicism. At the start of
the coronavirus pandemic, from an empty St. Peter's Square, he
called for “all of us to row together, each of us in need of
comforting the other.”
At times, he was controversial. He angered some conservatives
with his outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics and was widely criticized
for saying that those who accused Chilean Bishop Juan Barros of
helping to protect the alleged pedophile Rev. Fernando Karadima
had committed slander. In 2016, commenting on then-presidential
candidate Donald Trump's vow to build a wall along the
U.S.-Mexican border, Francis said that anyone building a wall to
keep migrants out “is not Christian.”
In his lifetime, Francis' books included “The Name of God Is
Mercy” and the memoir “Hope.” He died on April 21, 2025 at the
age of 88.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
|
|
