Pope Francis

Austen Ivereigh

In this uplifting and practical book, written in collaboration with his biographer, Austen Ivereigh, the preeminent spiritual leader explains why we must—and how we can—make the world safer, fairer, and healthier for all people now. In the COVID crisis, the beloved shepherd of over one billion Catholics saw the cruelty and inequity of our society exposed more vividly than ever before. He also saw, in the resilience, generosity, and creativity of so many people, the means to rescue our society, our economy, and our planet. In direct, powerful prose, Pope Francis urges us not to let the pain be in vain. He begins Let Us Dream by exploring what this crisis can teach us about how to handle upheaval of any kind in our own lives and the world at large. With unprecedented candor, he reveals how three crises in his own life changed him dramatically for the better. By its very nature, he shows, crisis presents us with a choice: we make a grievous error if we try to return to some pre-crisis state. But if we have the courage to change, we can emerge from the crisis better than before. Francis then offers a brilliant, scathing critique of the systems and ideologies that conspired to produce the current crisis, from a global economy obsessed with profit and heedless of the people and environment it harms, to politicians who foment their people’s fear and use it to increase their own power at their people’s expense. He reminds us that Christians’ first duty is to serve others, especially the poor and the marginalized, just as Jesus did. Finally, the Pope offers an inspiring and actionable blueprint for building a better world for all humanity by putting the poor and the planet at the heart of new thinking. For this plan, he draws not only on sacred sources, but on the latest findings from renowned scientists, economists, activists, and other thinkers. Yet rather than simply offer prescriptions, he shows how ordinary people acting together despite their differences can discover unforeseen possibilities. Along the way, he offers dozens of wise and surprising observations on the value of unconventional thinking, on why we must dramatically increase women’s leadership in the Church and throughout society, on what he learned while scouring the streets of Buenos Aires with garbage-pickers, and much more. Let Us Dream is an epiphany, a call to arms, and a pleasure to read. It is Pope Francis at his most personal, profound and passionate. With this book and with open hearts, we can change the world.

The Path to a Better Future

Let Us Dream

Following his critically acclaimed The Great Reformer, Austen Ivereigh's colorful, clear-eyed portrait of Pope Francis takes us inside the Vatican's urgent debate over the future of the church in Wounded Shepherd. This deeply contextual biography centers on the tensions generated by the pope’s attempt to turn the Church away from power and tradition and outwards to engage humanity with God’s mercy. Through battles with corrupt bankers and worldly cardinals, in turbulent meetings and on global trips, history’s first Latin-American pope has attempted to reshape the Church to evangelize the contemporary age. At the same time, he has stirred other leaders’ deep-seated fear that the Church is capitulating to modernity—leaders who have challenged his bid to create a more welcoming, attentive institution. Facing rebellions over his allowing sacraments for the divorced and his attempt to create a more "ecological" Catholicism, as well as a firestorm of criticism for the Church’s record on sexual abuse, Francis emerges as a leader of remarkable vision and skill with a relentless spiritual focus—a leader who is at peace in the turmoil surrounding him. With entertaining anecdotes, insider accounts, and expert analysis, Ivereigh’s journey through the key episodes of Francis’s reform in Rome and the wider Church brings into sharp focus the frustrations and fury, as well as the joys and successes, of one of the most remarkable pontificates of the contemporary age.

Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church

Wounded Shepherd

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.

Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope

The Great Reformer

Drawing on the wisdom of Pope Francis and the spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, austen Ivereigh has written a captivating spiritual guide for our turbulent age. Designed as an eight-day Ignatian retreat, First Belong to God serves as a roadmap to deeper discipleship. It does this by focusing on the three foundational forms of belonging: to God, to creation, and to others. Whether you're embarking on a solitary spiritual expedition or a journey with like-minded individuals, First Belong to God offers the next best thing to a personal retreat with Pope Francis: a full-soul immersion into his wisdom via the classic Jesuit retreat that shaped him profoundly.

On Retreat with Pope Francis

First Belong to God

A rare study of Catholicism in Latin-American politics prior to Vatican II, this work examines the role of Catholics and Catholic theology in the development of Argentine political history. The author challenges standard interpretations in arguing that Argentine authoritarianism derives principally from the Enlightenment offshoots of liberalism and popular nationalism. The author argues that the tension between these strains, and a broad humanistic cultural framework informed by the Catholic tradition, helps to explain Argentine political instability, while shedding new light on leaders and movements, and especially Peronism.

Catholicism and Politics in Argentina, 1810-1960

The Second Vatican Council, which ended thirty-five years ago, promised so much: a new vision of a reformed Church aware of its social, theological and ecumenical responsibilities; a truly conciliar Church with collegial structures. However, this vision seems to have evaporated and many of the promised reforms have been truncated or have not happened at all. The Vatican remains intensely bureaucratic. Theologians are silenced and the effect of clerical scandal seems to have led Church leaders to dig in and see the deposit of faith as something static. Once again the Church believes it has a monopoly on the truth and millions of people feel marginalized and excluded. Britain's long-established Catholic weekly, The Tablet , has fought for the spirit and values of Vatican II in a way that no other journal has done. It has criticised the Church (Humanae Vitae) and has condemned corruption, but has also supported the Church where it has been right to do so.These essays come from a truly international cast of contributors who cover the Church of Vatican II but above all give us prophesy of where this vision may still lead the Church and the people of God. This is a Church semper reformanda.

Austen Ivereigh

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