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The Homeless Bishop
Best-selling author Joseph Girzone brings us a new hero for our Carlo Brunini. An accomplished young Italian bishop, Carlo chooses to become a homeless beggar so he can understand why Jesus so loved the poor. What happens next will astonish and delight readers everywhere.
When Carlo returns to his diocese in Italy he starts to build homes for the homeless. He adopts seven homeless children, asking his beloved cousin, Madalena, to be their mother, and turns a cold and empty mansion into a place of life and laughter. But Carlo, not of his own choice, becomes homeless once he is sent on a sensitive diplomatic mission to Iran.
As Carlo engages the powerful rulers of Iran, he suffers a devastating loss that comes to serve as a bridge between two worlds and the beginning of an even more extraordinary adventure for the homeless bishop.
Girzone s latest novel is a "what if" book that readers will not be able to put down. Like the beloved Joshua, Carlo is destined to be cherished for decades to come.
When Carlo returns to his diocese in Italy he starts to build homes for the homeless. He adopts seven homeless children, asking his beloved cousin, Madalena, to be their mother, and turns a cold and empty mansion into a place of life and laughter. But Carlo, not of his own choice, becomes homeless once he is sent on a sensitive diplomatic mission to Iran.
As Carlo engages the powerful rulers of Iran, he suffers a devastating loss that comes to serve as a bridge between two worlds and the beginning of an even more extraordinary adventure for the homeless bishop.
Girzone s latest novel is a "what if" book that readers will not be able to put down. Like the beloved Joshua, Carlo is destined to be cherished for decades to come.
295 pages, Paperback
First published July 11, 2011
18 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Joseph F. Girzone
76 books113 followersFROM PUBLISHER:
JOSEPH F. GIRZONE retired from the active priesthood in 1981 due to health reasons, and embarked on a second career as a writer and speaker.
In 1995 he established the Joshua Foundation, an organization dedicated to making Jesus better known throughout the world.
His bestselling books include Joshua, A Portrait of Jesus, and Never Alone. He lives in Altamont, New York.
JOSEPH F. GIRZONE retired from the active priesthood in 1981 due to health reasons, and embarked on a second career as a writer and speaker.
In 1995 he established the Joshua Foundation, an organization dedicated to making Jesus better known throughout the world.
His bestselling books include Joshua, A Portrait of Jesus, and Never Alone. He lives in Altamont, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
October 4, 2011
Because of the message the book was definitely worth reading. The writing not so much.
March 9, 2019
Author Joseph Girzone became well known for his break-through novel "Joshua". I read this in the 1980s, and had a chance to hear him speak and meet him in that decade. I was impressed by his simple storytelling style, and also for his earnestness. He wrote "Joshua", among other things, as a counter to legalism and clericalism in the church and society.
"The Homeless Bishop", written two decades after "Joshua", continues in the same vein. Girzone presents the figure of a young Catholic bishop who is very talented, but concerned that he may be distancing himself from Jesus. Things have come easy for him, but he longs for a closer faith-relationship with God. Thus, as the book opens we find that he has just been ordained bishop, but secures permission from the pope to go on a pilgrimage/retreat before he begins his ministry as Archbishop of Taranto, in southern Italy. The retreat extends beyond a week to eighteen life-changing months.
The pilgrimage takes up the first half of the novel; the second half chronicles the 9 years following that experience. The pilgrimage has brought the bishop to seriously question whether his values are in synch with the Gospel concerns of Jesus as he looks for Jesus through the eyes of those who are hurting, especially through the eyes of children and the poor.
Challenges that the homeless bishop faces include those that seem to plague Western Society, as well as those that stump the contemporary Catholic Church: clericalism, legalism, abuse, corruption, profiteering, organized crime, drug smuggling, racism, Islamic-Western conflicts, and more.
Published in 2011, "The Homeless Bishop" anticipates some of the issues that Pope Francis would ask the church to address (Francis was elected two years after the appearance of this novel), as well as much of the opposition hurled at Pope Francis in the real world. Because of this, "The Homeless Bishop" is a good discussion starter for Catholics and others who want to work toward dialogue and authenticity in these early years of the 21st century.
"The Homeless Bishop", written two decades after "Joshua", continues in the same vein. Girzone presents the figure of a young Catholic bishop who is very talented, but concerned that he may be distancing himself from Jesus. Things have come easy for him, but he longs for a closer faith-relationship with God. Thus, as the book opens we find that he has just been ordained bishop, but secures permission from the pope to go on a pilgrimage/retreat before he begins his ministry as Archbishop of Taranto, in southern Italy. The retreat extends beyond a week to eighteen life-changing months.
The pilgrimage takes up the first half of the novel; the second half chronicles the 9 years following that experience. The pilgrimage has brought the bishop to seriously question whether his values are in synch with the Gospel concerns of Jesus as he looks for Jesus through the eyes of those who are hurting, especially through the eyes of children and the poor.
Challenges that the homeless bishop faces include those that seem to plague Western Society, as well as those that stump the contemporary Catholic Church: clericalism, legalism, abuse, corruption, profiteering, organized crime, drug smuggling, racism, Islamic-Western conflicts, and more.
Published in 2011, "The Homeless Bishop" anticipates some of the issues that Pope Francis would ask the church to address (Francis was elected two years after the appearance of this novel), as well as much of the opposition hurled at Pope Francis in the real world. Because of this, "The Homeless Bishop" is a good discussion starter for Catholics and others who want to work toward dialogue and authenticity in these early years of the 21st century.
July 3, 2012
Great concept. Insipid writing. I join Corzone's fans in wishing the church were thus, but I find his writing flawed-- grammatical error abound and the plots and characters were neither compelling or likely. And Iran??? Don't get me started. It is SO not as he seems to want to believe. Sorry, in my book a huge FAIL.
December 15, 2011
It started out strong, then the writing became very simple. i felt like a grade school student wrote this story. I loved the story line itself though. I would have appreciated more sophisticated writing.
April 2, 2012
Here is a vision of the Church,(and all faiths) its Pope,its bishops and priests I would pray we see. Our church has become in many places an empty institution and its leaders like the Pharisees.
We can pray, we can dream, we can talk.
We can pray, we can dream, we can talk.
August 25, 2013
Read this book for it's unpretentious presentation of a story that teaches important lessons about Jesus and how truly living with Him could change the world.
December 21, 2017
inspirational (other books seem very similar)
September 5, 2018
some parts brought me to tears
February 9, 2019
A good journey
There are some obvious things I question in the book. Yet, the general work is excellent, and even the questionalble parts bring up things we should talk through.
There are some obvious things I question in the book. Yet, the general work is excellent, and even the questionalble parts bring up things we should talk through.
July 16, 2019
really love this story about a bishop who lives among the homeless for more than a year to get an appreciation of the real Jesus.
Read
August 18, 2019Different. Really enjoyed. Actually very current with what the Church needs.
May 14, 2025
Wonderful, more words from me would mean less…
At first, I believed that this book would be a little shallow. Upon finishing the book, I realized how wrong I was. Peace
At first, I believed that this book would be a little shallow. Upon finishing the book, I realized how wrong I was. Peace
October 7, 2011
Another delightful book by Joseph Girzone. I was a big fan of his Joshua series and he creates another great character with Carlo Brunini, the homeless bishop. Brunini wants to really understand how the poor and homeless live, so he becomes homeless for about 18 months. He believes that is the best way to really understand the life and feelings of Jesus. Brunini is a selfless archbishop in Italy and comes across as very simple, but he is in fact anything but. He is a wonderful human who has a deep faith in God and Jesus.
I am not a religious person, but I still appreciate a good story and the positive feelings this one evokes. Carlo learns a lot on his pilgrimage to the United States about how the poor and homeless are treated - like humanities refuge. But these are people, many of whom are down on their luck or out of work with no alternatives.
Carlo eventually returns to Italy and his archdiocese with great plans. He adopts 8 homeless children and shakes up the established order of things. He stares down the local mafia with kindness and cunning and overcomes the good old boy network. Since he was trained as a diplomat, he is sent by the pope to Iran to help improve relations with religious and political leaders. Again he works through kindness and cunning to help change old stereotypes.
Tragedy befalls him and his adopted family, but he chooses to go the route of peace by forgiving. He inspires people in Iran and eventually comes back to Rome with a great reputation as a caring, intelligent man. He treats people as human beings, regardless of their lot in life. His star is on the rise and he winds up in a position of great power and responsibility, although he feels unworthy of it - I won't spoil it, you'll have to read the book.
Girzone challenges established thinking with religious leaders and proposes some interesting and forward thinking ideas in this book. The story is wonderful to read and I hope that some who tend to live for yesterday think about moving in the present and dealing with people in a way that we would all like to be treated.
I am not a religious person, but I still appreciate a good story and the positive feelings this one evokes. Carlo learns a lot on his pilgrimage to the United States about how the poor and homeless are treated - like humanities refuge. But these are people, many of whom are down on their luck or out of work with no alternatives.
Carlo eventually returns to Italy and his archdiocese with great plans. He adopts 8 homeless children and shakes up the established order of things. He stares down the local mafia with kindness and cunning and overcomes the good old boy network. Since he was trained as a diplomat, he is sent by the pope to Iran to help improve relations with religious and political leaders. Again he works through kindness and cunning to help change old stereotypes.
Tragedy befalls him and his adopted family, but he chooses to go the route of peace by forgiving. He inspires people in Iran and eventually comes back to Rome with a great reputation as a caring, intelligent man. He treats people as human beings, regardless of their lot in life. His star is on the rise and he winds up in a position of great power and responsibility, although he feels unworthy of it - I won't spoil it, you'll have to read the book.
Girzone challenges established thinking with religious leaders and proposes some interesting and forward thinking ideas in this book. The story is wonderful to read and I hope that some who tend to live for yesterday think about moving in the present and dealing with people in a way that we would all like to be treated.
September 25, 2016
This book was so exciting that I could hardly wait to get to the next page. I loved the idea of a young bishop (who happened to be Italian and part of the staff at the Vatican) asking permission and it was granted that he could go out into the world as a homeless person. He first started in Italy but came to the United States and went upstate New York to live among the homeless population. I love how he grew in his humility how homeless persons can feel – alone, not wanted and not make a spot on the screen of important. You will love how his return home with humility about the needs of the homeless turned his work to the importance of taking care of homeless people in the footstep of the Lord. I love how he used his experience to become more awe of not only the plight of the homeless but how they view themselves as useless from the constant rejection from others. It is a book I would recommend in this time of how many view those who are down on their luck as shiftless and worthless.
April 23, 2012
This is my first venture into the Christian Fiction genre and it was a very interesting journey. Written by a retired Catholic priest, The Homeless Bishop follows the journey of a young Archbishop who takes a sabbatical for almost 2 years to live as a homeless person in the U.S. (the Archbishop was born and lives in Rome, Italy for the majority of the book), in an effort to better understand why Jesus always taught kindness and reverence for the poor.
I found this book to be absolutely thought provoking and challenging of my own beliefs and attitudes. While at times, the writing style was far too simplistic for my taste and entirely too detailed of Carlo's (the archbishop) thoughts, it was still an easy and quick read.
I found this book to be absolutely thought provoking and challenging of my own beliefs and attitudes. While at times, the writing style was far too simplistic for my taste and entirely too detailed of Carlo's (the archbishop) thoughts, it was still an easy and quick read.
October 7, 2011
Very simply told tale written by a retired priest. Carlo, an Italian, is a bishop who cannily manages to get every parish under him to accept the homeless and feed and house them, after he learned how Jesus felt about life as he lived in a wandering homeless fashion in New York. The author depicts Carlo's various clergical promotions as happening because Carlo is perfect. This is termed a "What if" story. What if a simple man never was looking out for his interests, was a priest who was able to deal with the politics of the Catholic Church and to get parish folk to change their attitudes and beliefs to attitudes that God would want.
December 1, 2012
I enjoyed this book very much, as I have all of Fr. Girzone's work. In this story, a bishop goes and lives as a homeless person for 18 months, then returns to his work much wiser than he was. The thing I like about these books is how much the focus is on the spirit of Jesus: kindness, compassion, forgiveness, reconcilliation, and peace. Those things, to me, are what matters. All of the other stuff is make-believe.
I am willing to bet that the vast majority of bishops, and priests, and cardinals, and Republicans, would learn a great deal from being homeless for a few months. A pleasant fantasy, to say the least.
I am willing to bet that the vast majority of bishops, and priests, and cardinals, and Republicans, would learn a great deal from being homeless for a few months. A pleasant fantasy, to say the least.
April 3, 2013
If you were to imagine the perfect leader for the church, how would he be? An intelligent, selfless, student of life who acknowledges his own human feelings. And when he rose to a leader of the church, how would he approach his ministry? With humility, grace, and consideration for all people. This is the priest that Girzone describes in this novel. He scarily predicts some of the qualities of our new pope. While Girzone sometimes writes a bit too simply, this story is inspiring and offers hope for real reform. At least we know that at least some in our church get it; that its about people and inspiring them to live the way Jesus taught as he lived his life.
July 7, 2012
Father Girzone does seem to be preaching to the converted (committed, Church-going, and somewhat liberal Catholics) but he does it in such a way that you almost believe that a bishop might "carry off" a year of being a homeless beggar in order to change his perspective on leading the Church. The ending is preposterous but up until then, I found this book insightful and somewhat challenging to me personally. Do I want an unwashed homeless man, sitting next to me at Church?
December 4, 2011
I love Joseph Girzone. He didn't disappoint me. This is a story about an Italian Bishop who goes undercover for a year and leaves his country and lives like a homeless person for a year and a half.
He then returns to Italy and resumes his life based on what Jesus would do. Totally glad that this book fell into my hands.
He then returns to Italy and resumes his life based on what Jesus would do. Totally glad that this book fell into my hands.
Read
January 30, 2012This beautiful novel is a reminder that following after Jesus and seeking holiness is a messy business. The cross is extremely heavy at times, but Carlo's story shows the graces that flow from constant conversion and continuously seeking to be more like Jesus each day. I think this is one of the best of Girzone's books that I've read.
August 26, 2012
The basic premise is intriguing but this book is so predictable I really did not need to read the second half of it. As it was the only book I had in Big Sur (big mistake) I read the fool thing anyway. Perhaps my cynicism and on-again-off-again Atheism clouded my perspective, but I really don't think so.
February 20, 2016
Would this be true
As a past Catholic I understand most of the information presented. I fell as I read that no priest would really do as Carlos did. I felt he would never have been chosen as pope. I was left disappointed with the end of the book. Yes Jesus would have been like Carlos, I.however. am not homeless.does that mean Jesus does not love me?
As a past Catholic I understand most of the information presented. I fell as I read that no priest would really do as Carlos did. I felt he would never have been chosen as pope. I was left disappointed with the end of the book. Yes Jesus would have been like Carlos, I.however. am not homeless.does that mean Jesus does not love me?
February 7, 2015
Great beginning but some unlikely and not credible events weakened the tale. Clearly shows the isolation of the homeless person in the rest of the world, but the world of the homeless seems too civilized. Still, an interesting read.
December 8, 2011
Loved it!
February 18, 2012
This book gets a little draggy in the middle but improves greatly. It identifies many of the problems in the modern Catholic church and the men who run it.
January 2, 2012
A beautiful book that truly touches your heart.
August 12, 2012
Food for thought as are most of the books by Joseph Girzone.
April 28, 2013
Read this one!! One of the best books by Father Girzone . I hope he gives us a sequel !
March 18, 2015
Excellent read. It is uncanny how it parallels our new Pope!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews