Review
"The secret of Pope Francis is found in this book." --Bishop Martínez Camino
"These deeply spiritual reflections on how we follow Jesus make the perfect holiday gift, and an ideal choice for daily spiritual reading. Open Mind, Faithful Heart reveals like no other book the depths of Pope Francis' deep faith, joy, and compassion. It is "not just for reading. It is a path for prayer and a guide for life." --Joseph V. Owens, S.J., translator.
"In 2011, as Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) was preparing to submit his letter of retirement to Pope Benedict XVI, he began to sort through his papers and the spiritual talks he had given over the years. His intention was to have some of them published as he retired. He entrusted the task of sorting them and deciding which ones were to be published to a few close friends and colleagues. This volume is a compilation of several of his notable talks and spiritual reflections over the years. Since his election as pope, there have been many books about Pope Francis.
Open Mind, Faithful Heart is a book by him. The selections in this book are the deeply personal, spiritual thoughts of our new Holy Father. Many of them reflect his strong Ignatian background. All of them provide the reader with serious spiritual food. The book is comprised of four parts: Encountering Jesus, Manifestations of Light, The Letters to the Seven Churches and Human Prayer. The scripturally-based lessons contained in these reflections are deeply personal, spiritually challenging, and thoroughly pastoral. Each reflection concludes with prayer. If you have followed Pope Francis' daily homilies at Domus Santa Marta, and his more public homilies and addresses, you will hear echoes of these words in every part of this book. If you want to get inside Pope Francis's message today, this book will help you do that. For example, in the fourth section of this book, the section on Human Prayer, he speaks clearly about "drawing close to all suffering flesh." This "drawing close" he says, means "opening our hearts, showing compassion, touching the wound, aiding the injured...We must cultivate not just ways of thinking but also ways of proceeding that entail the following: loving justice with a desert thirst, preferring the wealth of poverty to the impoverishment produced by worldly wealth, opening our hearts with gentleness rather than inflaming them with ferocity, promoting peace as a value superior to all war and all evasive passivism, having a clear vision that comes from a pure heart and that keeps us from falling into the greed of storing up riches for ourselves. " These are themes that show up in so many of his teachings today. If you want to know where Pope Francis is taking us and the church today, these reflections from the past will enlighten the path he is setting for all of us for the future. This volume is highly readable and spiritually challenging for clergy and religious, lay women and men, and for all who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the mind and heart of Pope Francis." —
Rev. Msgr. Paul J. E. Burkard, priest of the diocese of Buffalo, pastor of Our Lady of Victory National Shrine and Basilica, Lackawanna, NY, President of Baker Victory Services and Vice Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Nelson Baker
About the Author
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope on March 13, 2013, taking the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi. His priestly ordination was in 1969, and in 1992, he was consecrated auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and given the titular see of Auca. He became Buenos Aires's coadjutor bishop in 1997, succeeded as the see's archbishop the following year, and was elevated to cardinal in 2001. He is the author of
The Power to Serve.
Gustavo Larrázabal, CMF, is a Claretian missionary from Argentina. He is the former publisher of Claretian Publications of Buenos Aires. As the editor of the works of Cardinal Bergoglio, he is also a close friend.
Joseph Owens, SJ, is a Jesuit who has spent most of his active career working in the Caribbean and Central America. His various ministries have included grass-roots organizing, pastoral work, radio apostolate, and teaching. To learn more go to popefrancisbook.com.