Review by Booklist Review
His family name is Italian Bergoglio but as everyone surely knows by now, Francis is the first New World pope. As Vallely, a British journalist specializing in international development and religion, presents him, he will be is already a truly new pope. Rejecting eight centuries of his predecessors' monarchical trappings, Francis is intent on being more of a people's pope than even John XXIII. His early career didn't exactly augur his present concern for the poor and the laity in general rather than the institutional church. As provincial of Argentina's Jesuits, he opposed Latin American liberation theology so strongly that to this day accusations of betraying two colleagues to the country's brutal military junta still carry water, though much less so than when he became archbishop of Buenos Aires or when he was runner-up to Joseph Ratzinger in the 2005 papal conclave. Vallely says Bergoglio's experience under the junta changed him; certainly, he came to accept and prosecute a liberation theology shorn of Marxism. An unusually substantial and hope-reviving instant book. --Olson, Ray Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
After interviewing many people who have known Pope Francis over the years, journalist Vallely (senior military analyst, Fox News) deftly tells the story of a man who went from being a conservative and -reactionary whose autocratic decrees caused dissension to a protector of the poor; from a man who condemned "slum priests" to one who encouraged them. Vallely presents contrasting views about Francis, critiquing those he considers biased and justifying those he sees as valid. He creates for the reader a picture of the man who immediately endeared himself to many by rejecting the trappings of the papacy but whose election was accompanied by unsettling tales from his past. The first Jesuit pope, the first to take the name Francis, and the first from the Americas is shown to be a man whose understanding of the role of bishop has developed over the years. VERDICT Unlike the more popular biographies of the new pope that have appeared (e.g., Matthew Bunson's Pope Francis), Vallely's work examines the criticisms that have been made of Pope Francis and puts them in context, clarifying, rather than denying. In the process, he offers insight into the roots of the new pope's leadership style. Readers looking for a fuller portrait of the prelate will be grateful for this volume.-Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
