Pope Francis Among the Wolves

September 7, 2015
Vaticanista Politi (His Holiness) is one of a cadre of Italian journalists who have spent their professional lives watching popes come, go, and pronounce. Unlike ostensibly neutral American journalists, Politi makes his pro-Francis sympathies clear. He knows the home team of Italian prelates and politicians who give the Vatican its immediate national context. His chapter on the Vatican Bank and its scandals is especially helpful, though it requires close reading if one is unfamiliar with the institutions and people involved. He's much less familiar with Francis's 40 years of serving the church in Argentina, but has gone there to interview those who worked with him during that part of his career. Politi's well-sourced reporting is evident in voluminous notes, citing enough reporters, sources, and internal intrigue to provide grist for a variety of interpretations of Francsis's first two years as pope. Politi certainly delivers on the subtitle's promise of a look inside the byzantine halls of the institutional Catholic Church. (Sept.

September 1, 2015

There is a legend that St. Francis of Assisi once tamed a ferocious wolf with his words. Figuratively speaking, Pope Francis faces a multitude of similarly fierce wolves, and his ability to tame them into submission is yet to be determined. In the first two years of his pontificate, Pope Francis's simplicity, idiosyncratic style, and warm pastoral approach have been a breath of fresh air, capturing the world's imagination and generating significant media attention. At the same time, he faces adversaries within the Catholic hierarchy, particularly within the Roman Curia. Journalist and Vatican insider Politi draws upon a vast wealth of sources, including many not widely available in English, to describe the underpinnings of Vatican politics. Beginning with the extraordinary resignation of Pope Benedict XI, Politi delves into church topics such as the sexual abuse and financial scandals, the roles of women and the laity, and family issues, including divorced and remarried couples. VERDICT This book is well translated and accessible to a wide audience of Francis's admirers and opponents, both inside and outside of the Catholic Church.--Brian Sullivan, Alfred Univ. Lib., NY

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2015
Books come no more complementary than this one and John L. Allen's The Francis Miracle (2015). Both report the new pope's endeavors during the first two years of his reign, saliently including Francis' transformation of the papal image from that of an emperor into that of a shepherd (pastor) and bridge builder (pontiff). Politi says more about the forces in the Vatican and the worldwide church that oppose Francis' changes; indeed, he names names and gives reasons for their discontents (not in his eyes good reasons, but reasons). Politi presents a deeper backstory to Jorge Maria Bergoglio's election, one based in the declining power of Italian prelates; he reveals that the conclave that elected Bergoglio was significantly anti-Italian to begin with. Politi stresses more than Allen that Francis represents not merely the Third World, in which the majority of Catholics live, but, indeed, the most Catholic continent, and he points out that Francis is the first pope who hails from and was shaped by a modern megalopolis. All Francis-watchers will want toshouldread both Politi and Allen.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)