Francis: Pope of Good Promise

From the moment Pope Francis stepped on to the balcony of St Peter's Basilica for the first time, a global audience sensed that not only the Catholic Church but the world at large could be entering a new spiritual, political and social age.

In the days following Pope Francis' election, there would be further early signs of the simplicity worthy of the first apostles and the leader that inspired them. Not since John XIII appeared on the scene half a century earlier had a new Pope opened the windows of the Church in such a way as to let in some much needed fresh air. Nevertheless, for the excitement generated by the first Latin American Pope and a man who claimed to want to put the poor back at the centre of the Church's social teaching, people could still only guess where it might be all be leading.

FRANCIS: POPE OF GOOD PROMISE is neither an instant media job, nor a hagiography based on authorised interviews, but the product of diligent investigation across a wide range of official and independent sources - a measured, objective portrait of a man who, in circumstances that he neither sought nor foresaw, found himself handed the highest office at a time of crisis not just for the Church but for long established institutions worldwide from banks to political parties.

“Burns writes with colour and panache”

The Scotsman
His [Burns] scenes and landscapes have a cinematic quality Independent
His [Burns] experience as a successful international writer and broadcaster and wealth of Argentine and Catholic Church contacts makes him uniquely placed to provide a compelling account of an Argentine Jesuit, the first ever Latin American Pope, who has captured the imagination of the world.

Jimmy Burns is a prizewinning author and journalist.

Burns was the Financial Times Buenos Aires correspondent during the 1980s and worked as a senior investigative reporter with the newspaper for many years. His previous books include The Land that Lost its Heroes: How Argentina Lost the Falklands War, which won the Somerset Maugham Prize for non-fiction and two critically acclaimed biographies, The Hand of God: A Life of Diego Maradona, and Papa Spy, an account of his late father's espionage activities as a leading Catholic.

Pope Francis is a far more complex man than early biographies have suggested. He is no picture-book saint but a very human priest, one wracked by doubt, who struggled to be a true witness of his faith. In circumstances he neither sought nor foresaw Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio was handed the highest office at a time of institutional crisis, not just for the Catholic Church but long-established institutions worldwide. In this ground-breaking biography, award-winning writer Jimmy Burns examines Bergoglio's childhood and formation as a priest, and the extent to which both his religious orthodoxy and social conscience were forged against the dramatic backdrop of Argentina's turbulent politics and challenging principles he adopted as a member of the Jesuit order. Burns questions Bergoglio's moral standing during the Argentina military junta's 'Dirty War' against political dissidents, appraises the transformation that took place when Bergoglio was made a bishop and sheds light on Pope Francis's first years of facing down intrigue and corruption in pursuing a programme of reform for the Vatican. The Pope of Good Promise interweaves Jimmy Burns' moving personal journey - part spiritual, part investigative - with the main narrative in search of the true subject behind the public image. 'Francis is blessed with an unusually well-qualified biographer. . . Burns has an instinctive feel for the context of his subject's life and vocation that serves well both subject and reader.' Independent Catholic News 'captivating' Literary Review 'a well-researched, carefully crafted exploration of a complex, sometimes enigmatic, pope.' Catholic Herald

From the moment Pope Francis stepped on to the balcony of St Peter's Basilica for the first time, a global audience sensed that not only the Catholic Church but the world at large could be entering a new spiritual, political and social age. In the days following Pope Francis' election, there would be further early signs of the simplicity worthy of the first apostles and the leader that inspired them. Not since John XIII appeared on the scene half a century earlier had a new Pope opened the windows of the Church in such a way as to let in some much needed fresh air. Nevertheless, for the excitement generated by the first Latin American Pope and a man who claimed to want to put the poor back at the centre of the Church's social teaching, people could still only guess where it might be all be leading. FRANCIS: POPE OF GOOD PROMISE is neither an instant media job, nor a hagiography based on authorised interviews, but the product of diligent investigation across a wide range of official and independent sources - a measured, objective portrait of a man who, in circumstances that he neither sought nor foresaw, found himself handed the highest office at a time of crisis not just for the Church but for long established institutions worldwide from banks to political parties.

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