Life: My Story through History

by Pope Francis, Aubrey Botsford (Translator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Pope Francis' life story is a moving and urgent call to action. Urging humanity to be more loving and humane, this is essential reading for Catholics, as well as for all who simply want a better world. As a leader for environmental, social and economic ideals, Pope Francis is more and more a beacon for meaningful change.

For the first time, Pope Francis tells the story of his life as he looks back on the momentous world events that have changed history—from his earliest years during the outbreak of World War II in 1939 to the turmoil of today. 

An extraordinary personal and historical journey, Life is the story of a man and a world in dramatic change. Pope Francis recalls his life through memories and observations of the most significant occurrences of the past eight decades. The book opens with three-year-old Jorge in the kitchen with his mother in Argentina as World War II breaks out, and he goes on to witness several historic events:

•         the fall of the Berlin Wall
•         Videla’s coup in Argentina
•         the moon landing in 1969
•         and even the 1986 World Cup in which Maradona scored the unforgettable “hand of God” goal.

Here are the frank assessments and intimate insights of a pastor reflecting on the Nazi extermination of the Jews, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the 2001 terrorist attack on America and the collapse of the Twin Towers, the great economic recession of 2008, the Covid-19 pandemic, the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI, and the subsequent conclave that elected him Pontiff.

The “pope callejero” recounts these world-changing moments with the candor and compassion that distinguishes him, and offers important messages on major crises confronting us now, including social inequalities, climate change, international war, atomic weapons, racial discrimination, and the battles over social and cultural issues.

Translated from the Italian by Aubrey Botsford

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063387522
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	20,962
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936, the son of Italian immigrants. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1969. Appointed auxiliary bishop in 1992, he became archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was made a cardinal in 2001. In March 2013 he was elected as pope, the two hundred and sixty-sixth pontiff of the Catholic Church, with the name Francis.

Editorial Reviews

04/15/2024

Pope Francis (A Good Life) provides a plainspoken overview of how some of the most significant events of the 20th and early 21st centuries shaped his life and morals. Among other episodes, he examines how the news from Nazi Germany he heard during his childhood in Argentina awoke him to “the persecution of Jews”; remembers watching the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, a recollection that leads him to call for Christians to build “bridges instead of barriers”; and suggests that the events of September 11 offer a lesson in the importance of decrying “the use of the name of God to justify slaughter.” Elsewhere, Francis covers the creation of the EU, the 2007–2008 Great Recession, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite a tendency to meander (as when his recollection of the 1969 moon landing awkwardly launches into a critique of technology’s ills), readers will be fascinated by the insights into how these historical events influenced a transformative pope who broke with his more conservative predecessors by recognizing and blessing same-sex civil unions and entertaining the possibility that atheists could go to heaven. Catholics will value this chance to see the leader of their church in a fresh light. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

2024-04-11
Memoirs of a modern pope.

Along with contributions by Italian journalist Ragona, Pope Francis (b. 1936) offers an autobiographical look at his entire life. With Ragona’s voice as an interlocutor to help steer the narrative, Francis shares intimate memories going back to his childhood in Argentina, when the world was on the verge of war. Francis’ voice is homey, honest, and simple as he recalls and reflects on the people and events that have shaped him through the years. His family’s origins as immigrants from Italy, and his childhood memories of refugees from the ravages of World War II, were obvious early forces in the development of his views and opinions about displaced people even today. Intriguingly, Francis says little about the vibrant and disruptive political influences in Argentina through many of his formative years, in contrast to the commentators who have speculated about his sympathies for the politics of former President Juan Perón. He does devote a chapter to the “Dirty War” following the Argentine military coup in the 1970s, but he provides only scant glimpses into what were obviously life-changing and, indeed, life-threatening times for the young Jesuit priest. In fact, readers will often find that this work is more of a colorful outline than a complete autobiography. Francis often brings moral lessons and opinions into his stories, and he concludes with his hopes for the church and the broader world. “I still cultivate a dream for the future,” he notes, “that our Church might be a meek, humble, servant church, with all the attributes of God.” Despite these hopes, he admits, “the Church is full of saints, but in some cases it has become a corrupt Church, precisely because clericalism is corrupt.”

A worthwhile read for Christians that whets the appetite for further details about the pope’s past.

Kirkus Reviews

In this audiobook Stephen Colbert narrates the various events that affected Pope Francis throughout his life. Father John Quigley performs the numerous monologues of Pope Francis that are scattered between these historical events. The extermination of Jewish people, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and racial discrimination are a few of the topics Pope Francis discusses. Colbert has a flair for creating warm vignettes from Pope Francis's happy childhood and journey to his priestly vocation. Father Quigley presents the strong sentiments and words of Pope Francis as he talks about humanity and our responsibility to preserve this planet. Together, author and narrators give listeners an intimate portrait of a holy man who keeps his eyes straight ahead and his ears open to heaven. E.E.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

MAY 2024 - AudioFile