Pope Francis

Product Description

From his first appearance on a Vatican balcony Pope Francis proved himself a Pope of Surprises. With a series of potent gestures history's first Jesuit pope declared a mission to restore authenticity & integrity to a Catholic Church bedevilled by sex abuse & secrecy intrigue & in-fighting ambition & arrogance. He declared it should be 'a poor Church for the poor'. But there is a hidden past to this modest man with the winning smile. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was previously a bitterly divisive figure. His decade as leader of Argentina's Jesuits left the religious order deeply split. & his behaviour during Argentina's Dirty War when military death squads snatched innocent people from the streets raised serious questions
- on which this book casts new light. Yet something dramatic then happened to Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He underwent an extraordinary transformation. After a time of exile he re-emerged having turned from a conservative authoritarian into a humble friend of the poor
- & became Bishop of the Slums making enemies among Argentina's political classes in the process. For Pope Francis
- Untying the Knots Paul Vallely travelled to Argentina & Rome to meet Bergoglio's intimates over the last four decades. His book charts a remarkable journey. It reveals what changed the man who was to become Pope Francis
- from a reactionary into the revolutionary who is unnerving Rome's clerical careerists with the extent of his behind-the-scenes changes. In this perceptive portrait Paul Vallely offers both new evidence & penetrating insights into the kind of pope Francis could become.