Pope Francis
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires on December 17,
1936. On March 13, 2013, he became the Bishop of Rome and the 266th
Pope of the Catholic Church. On March 13, 2015, he announced his
Holy Year of Mercy, which will begin on December 8, 2015, and end
on November 20, 2016.
Andrea Tornielli is a veteran Vatican reporter, correspondent for La Stampa, and director of the Vatican Insider website. He also writes for a variety of Italian and international magazines. His publications include the first biography of the Pope, Francis: Pope of a New World, which was translated into sixteen languages, and This Economy Kills: Pope Francis on Capitalism and Social Justice, which was translated into nine languages.
"In The Name of God Is Mercy, Francis speaks succinctly--and with refreshing forthrightness. . . . He emphasizes moral sincerity over dogma, an understanding of the complexities of the world and individual experience over rigid doctrine. . . . The pope has an easy conversational style that moves effortlessly between folksy sayings and erudite allusions, between common-sense logic and impassioned philosophical insights."--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"A book on mercy might be expected to be a warm bath in
kindliness, all sweetness and light, but Pope Francis, in The Name
of God Is Mercy, offers a tough-minded reflection on an urgently
needed public virtue, together with firm, if kindly, pushback
against his critics. . . . What makes his book most moving is the
way in which this man, without disrespecting his own privacy or
offering false bromides of modesty, opens the sacred space of his
conscience to explain how he came to center his ministry, and now
his papacy, around mercy. . . . His new book comes out toward the
start of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which he inaugurated
in December, in a centuries-old ritual, by unlocking the ceremonial
Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica. The Church of which Jorge Mario
Bergoglio became Pope, nearly three years ago, was itself a locked
door. As Francis, he has, exactly, found a 'tiny opening.' He is
pushing, and, to universal surprise, the door is beginning to swing
open."--James Carroll, The New Yorker "As he has done
throughout his papacy, Pope Francis shows in this book a compelling
way to present God's love anew to a skeptical world without denying
the ancient teachings of faith. But now he is challenging the
entire Church to trek a new way forward. Francis wants us to focus
our energy on the 99% who need to experience once more the greatest
realities of our faith."--Time
"The Name of God Is Mercy reminds me of John Paul II's 1994
book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope. . . . But while John Paul II
relied on Gospel passages, theological scholars and past papal
pronouncements, Francis enjoys sharing personal stories of God's
grace and mercy in the lives of parishioners from his native
Argentina, people he has known and who have recognized themselves
as sinners."--The Washington Post
"Powerful . . . Francis's book signals a plea for a change of
attitude on the part of the faithful and their pastors. . . .
Bishops and priests will talk and quarrel over the text for months,
even years to come. And that, perhaps, is what Francis intends: a
disruption of the status quo; a call for open-ended discussion
about conscience, and sin, based on new priorities. He has started
the conversation by setting compassion for the poor, oppressed and
deprived of the world above casuistic
rule-keeping."--Financial Times
"Pope Francis lays out his case for emphasizing the merciful face
of the Catholic Church in his first book as pontiff, saying God
never tires of forgiving and actually prefers the sinners who
repent over self-righteous moralizers who don't."--Associated
Press
"[Pope Francis] deepens his calls for a more merciful Catholic
Church. . . . The question-and-answer book is told in simple,
breezy language, with the pope referring to experiences and people
in his own life including a niece and prisoners he has
visited."--Newsday "Pope Francis has offered his most
detailed outline yet for the role of the Catholic church in the
modern era, saying in a new book-length interview the church needs
to follow Jesus' example more closely. . . . 'At times I have
surprised myself by thinking that a few very rigid people would do
well to slip a little, so that they could remember that they are
sinners and thus meet Jesus, ' Francis states."--National
Catholic
Reporter
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