Reviewed by Canon Mike D Williams
Pope Francis asked for the meeting. Austen Ivereigh, a British journalist and historian arrived at the Vatican in June 2018 to be warmly welcomed by the Pope. Frances said that he had one criticism of what Austen had written in his previous book early in his pontificate – he was too kind, and he warned against any further “great man” myth making.
The great reformer had found paths blocked, resistance mobilised and mistakes made. He is now the wounded shepherd. Francis sought to put Jesus Christ at the centre of the Church. To undertake a “pastoral conversion” of the Church. As Ivereigh says “a pope of the people, for the people; but most of all, he is a pope with the people”.
Francis’ ability as an astute leader and strategist, developed from his time as a Jesuit in Argentina, enabled him to deal with the many forces of resistance. He was flexible but knew the core principles that needed to be upheld. He sought to move power from the elites in the Church and give it to the people. His personal example of living in the guest house rather than the large apartment in the Apostolic Palace and appointing Bishops who served the poor as missionary priests.
This book goes into some detail about a range of issues including the sex abuse scandal, financial mismanagement and clericalism where priests were focused on themselves rather than their people. The pope managed his own diary, made his own calls, received his guests directly and took a personal interest in those caught up in conflict. He visited prisoners and washed their feet. He sought through restructuring and culture change in the Vatican to better communicate God’s saving and loving mercy.
Francis accepted that the technological and cultural shifts of this age made transmission of faith increasingly difficult. It is from South America that the Church began to respond to the new era. The learning Francis brought from his homeland informed his first encyclical letter Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). But it was another encyclical Laudato Si for which Francis will be remembered by those outside the Church. Caring for our common home considers climate change, inequality and the loss of our sense of the sacred in creation. The encyclical demands that we find a new way of thinking and living – one that depends on an “ecological conversion”.
This well researched book provides an excellent insight into the ministry of Pope Francis. It points to his struggles, mistakes, regrets but, importantly, to his overall drive to reform the Church and refocus it on Christ and the mission to the people of God. The Church remains deeply divided, but the election of the new pope with lived experience of poverty in Peru indicates that what Francis has started will continue.