First published 2016
Pope Francis stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on March 13, 2013, and asked the crowd to bless him before he blessed them. Mark Shriver witnessed a pontiff who paid his own hotel bills, rejected limousines, and chose simple Vatican guesthouse rooms over the grand papal apartment. This pope's humility sparked Shriver's own spiritual renewal and sent him on a journey to understand the man behind the papacy. Shriver travels to Argentina to meet people who knew Jorge Mario Bergoglio as a child, young Jesuit priest, and reformist bishop. He visits the confessional where Bergoglio first felt his religious calling and the converted vegetable shed that became the future pope's first parish outside Buenos Aires. In these poor neighborhoods, Bergoglio lived out Christ's teachings by serving the hungry, naked, and homeless, following the path of St. Francis of Assisi. Shriver weaves together this deeply researched biography with his personal spiritual memoir, showing how Francis's example of faith, love, humility, and mercy resonates with millions seeking to serve the marginalized.
Genres: history, christian, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, personal-journey
Setting: Argentina, Buenos Aires, St. Peter's Basilica
Period: 2013
284 pages · Hardcover · Random House