The Francis Miracle: Inside the Transformation of the Pope and the Church

by John L. Allen Jr.

There is no other organization whose inner workings are more secretive than the Vatican - the spiritual and physical center - of the Catholic Church. Now, with a dynamic new leader in Pope Francis, all eyes are upon the church, as this immensely popular Pope seeks to bring the church back from the right to center, in what can almost be described as a populist stance, blurring the lines between politics, religion and culture. With topics including women, finance, scandal, and reform at the fore, never before have so many eyes been upon the church in what could be its defining moment for modern times.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Religion

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 14, 2014

About the author

John L. Allen, Jr. (born 1965) is an American journalist serving as associate editor of the website Crux: Covering all things Catholic, specializing in news about the Catholic Church in partnership with the Catholic fraternal organization the Knights of Columbus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L.....

Reviews

[Jason Golomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In general, the 'Francis revolution' is being felt at the level of in-the-trenches application of doctrine rather than the doctrine itself. He’s trying to encourage the most generous, merciful, and flexible application possible, making it clear that his kind of Church wants to include rather than exclude…"
-From John L. Allen, Jr.’s “The Francis Miracle: Inside the Transformation of the Pope and the Church"


John L. Allen writes a balanced and thorough analysis of Jorge Mario Bergoglio's short tenure as Pope Francis I. At times biographical, impassioned, but always journalistically focused, Allen’s new book presents Francis’ complicated reformation in ways that that even the most uninvested reader (disclosure: I’m Jewish) can absorb.

Allen details a number of themes that carried over from the last two popes and have shadowed the early days of Francis’ rule: Francis’ overall perspectives and leanings; reformation of the Vatican’s finances; where he stands on the role of women in the church; his ecclesiastical perspectives; and how he’s handled the sexual abuse scandals.

Allen gives the impression that Francis is a natural leader who early in his career found "himself thrust into unexpected positions of leadership.” I don’t get the sense that Francis sought out power and leadership roles in his youth, but as Francis points out himself, anyone who seeks leadership in the Church is exactly the person you wouldn’t want in the leadership roles.

“Francis aims to steer Catholicism back to the political and ecclesiastical center,” writes Allen. He quietly battles hard line conservative Catholics, espousing softer stances on hot button issues like homosexuality and the rigidity of liturgy and ceremony. His goal seems to be one of openness and inclusion.


"He wants the first impression people have of Catholicism not be of judgement but rather of welcome, trusting that whatever eventual verdicts the Church is compelled to deliver will be better received if they come in the context of a loving embrace. To achieve that, he knows that he needs to bring all ideological camps along with him."
- from “The Francis Miracle: Inside the Transformation of the Pope and the Church"


Francis “wants Catholics to ‘get out of the sacristy and into the streets.'” He’s “consciously crafted symbols about the kind of Church he wants to lead: he’s sat down for chats with atheists and believers alike, called ordinary people on the phone out of the blue, even invited three homeless men and their dog to join him for a birthday breakfast.” He’s washed the feet of parishioners at local churches. This time with ‘the people’ sometimes comes at the great consternation of his coterie, including security and communicational staff.

The Pope’s explanation? He believes that “sometimes you understand reality better from the edges than from the center.”

Allen writes about the confusion over Bergoglio's political leanings in the 70s and 80s when serving in Argentina. While he was encouraging priests to spend time in the villas miserias (poor slums) around BA, some accused the future pope of not doing enough to fight against Argentina’s dirty war in the early 1970’s. During that time, Bergoglio served as superior of the Jesuits. He was even accused of turning in two of his own priests to the government which led to their prolonged imprisonment. One of those two priests has since died, but the other has firmly stated that Bergoglio was not the reason they were incarcerated, but rather a female rebel who was tortured and confessed to the priests working with the poor.

Allen relays that Begolgio said, “I am father of all, and I cannot be wrapped in a political flag.” This was quoted regarding the fact that he hadn’t voted in the compulsory elections in Argentina since the early 1960s. But due to the Right AND Left extremities that ruled Argentine violent politics in the 70’s, this is an apt quote as well.

In truth, during the dirty war, some far leftist Catholics (even several priests) were joining armed resistance movements. Bergoglio, caught between the violence espoused by both extremes of Argentina’s political wars, was trying to keep his Church moving forward, implying support for neither end of the violent political spectrum.

A cornerstone of his policy is outreach to other Christian sects including evangelicals and Orthodox. He has a good relationship with the Jewish and Muslim communities alike. "The longtime former president of the Anti-Defamation League said in 2013 that he felt as if the Jews “won the lottery” when Bergoglio was elected."

While Pope Francisco is very direct and clear of meaning in his talk, he's been less so when dealing with women in the church. “On two occasions when the pontiff has been asked about possibly admitting women to the ranks of the clergy, he’s said a firm “no”. At the same time, he has also said that he wants to see a “greater role” for women in Catholicism.” Instead of institutional changes, Allen feels that Francis is targeting a “psychologic, theological, and moral 'space”' he wants to enhance for women in the Catholic world. Women have played a tremendous role in his life, however, in his first two years as Pope, there have been “no groundbreaking new roles for women…and no new theological study was commissioned.

On some issues that have been particular social hot buttons like abortion, Francis's stance is clear - he holds the Catholic line of stringent pro life, but he avoids using a confrontational rhetoric.

His record regarding child abuse while in Argentina has not been stellar as Allen points out numerous examples of Bergoglio rebuffing requests to meet with accusers of priests in and around BA. Allen feels this is probably the most significant area for improvement

As one can imagine, Il Vaticano is rife with internal political stire. Within the 2,000 year old institution, Allen writes, Francis faces "a determination to preserve established patterns of doing business among people whose self-image and career prospects are invested in the status quo."

“In the corridors of the Vatican, the argument “this is how we’ve always done things” packs a solid punch.” According to one Church historian, “no pope of the 20th century ever experienced as much resistance."

What the book doesn’t have is interviews with the man himself. There are Francis quotes a-plenty but none came from interviews focused on the development of this work. While I still feel that Allen’s book is even-handed, I’m left wondering why the author who ‘is basically the reporter that bishops and cardinals call to find out what’s going on within the confines of the Vatican,’ didn’t have any one-on-one time with Francis for this work.

If seeking a better understand of Pope Francis himself, or looking for a glimpse of the machinations of The Vatican, this is a terrific read. Highly recommended.

[Peter Gehred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stuff about the history of Francis is fascinating. In particular, the fact that he was good, personal friends with a socialist in Argentina who was very likely "disappeared" by the regime might explain, at least in part, his leadership both as Archbishop and Pope.

That said, the book is a bit formulaic, covering topic after topic by subject matter in the Church (sexuality, gender, sex abuse, etc.) in a bit more of a survey by topic than I was hoping for.

[SundayAtDusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even thought I'm not a Catholic who goes to confession, or actually any Catholic at all, I am still going to confess something--this book was not particularly interesting to me. It's not because of the way it was written, but because most of it is about church politics. I doubt there is any church more political than the Catholic church. Moreover, as author John Allen stated about Pope Francis: "Beneath the man's humble, simple exterior lies the mind of a brilliant Jesuit politician." The author also pointed out that some of those high in the hierarchy consider the pope to be "a Latin dictator". Hence, I wouldn't exactly call The Francis Miracle: Inside the Transformation of the Pope and the Church a general public sort of book or a fan book. If you want mostly warm, fuzzy stories about Pope Francis, you might look elsewhere. Not that this book has none, but Mr. Allen is obviously not out to feed the fantasies about Pope Francis being a saint who is definitely going to work miracles in the Catholic Church and the world.

The book's chapter on women was scant, in my opinion, or maybe there just wasn't anything else left to say. The author ends that chapter with the belief that "if the gap between the pope's rhetoric on women and his track record persists, it could become a pivot point where the public love affair begins to turn sour." The chapter on the sex scandal, on the other hand, was an eye-opener because it examines Pope Francis' track record in dealing with pervert priests before he became pope. It's not good. That's not a small matter, either, since that shows how he acted before he got into the spotlight. One wonders if his most celebrated comment (Who am I to judge?") actually means something entirely different than what everyone wants to think it means.

We all judge. That's how we decide who to live with, who to socialize with, who to work with, who to worship with, and what religion to belong to or not belong to. As John Allen points out in this book, some judge Pope Francis as being a shining light of hope and a shining example of Christianity, while others are hoping his reign as pope will be a short one. To some he is a megastar, to others a "Peron". Whatever he is, I'll leave the pope to his followers, and I'll leave this book to those who want a very well researched book on Pope Francis, and the politics of the Catholic Church.

(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)

[Steve B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allen's book,'The Francis Miracle' was written a few years into the papacy of Pope Francis. Allen is a superb journalist having written for the National Catholic Review, Crux, and is a longtime CNN contributor on all things Vatican.
After reading 'The Francis Miracle, I've come to the conclusion that the 'miracle' may be the fact that Francis was elected in the first place to succeed Benedict. But, that said, Allen gives the reader a strong rendering of Francis's leadership in the church i Argentina. Francis receives mixed reviews because of his relationship to the right wing dictatorship but also his populist streak in his advocacy for the poor.

Once Francis becomes Pope Allen takes us on a long and winding and complex road of Francis's highs and lows. High grades for: reaching out to other religious leaders throughout the world; cleaning up the financial mess in the Vatican; coming down hard on the sexual abuse scandals; his outreach to the poor; and appointments to important positions within the church. Lows grades on:
womens role in the church. However, many conservative Catholics would have many more liw grades for Francis.

Very good book to get a handle on the 'Francis ' philosophy. He will be missed - on my part.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's probably best not to read a "current" event style book 7 years after it's published but as I work through my unread bookshelf, I didn't know any better.

The author is a Catholic reporter, so this is more of a political/burecratic commentary on the first two years of Pope Francis. (similar to Witness to Hope about JPII) There was some biography, but a lot of the focus was on various hot button social issues such as the abuse crisis, women in the church, the role of money and the social justice aspect. As a moderate, I'm a fan of Francis and it is refreshing to read about the non American 'political side'. And this case politics meaning stance on issues as opposed to heavy catechism or doctrine.

The book was a fine read, but at this point I'm sure there is a more relevant commentary to read. But it was nice to make a dent in that "I will eventually read this pile"

[TheObsessiveCupcake · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this author is supposedly the guy to read about anything that happens within the Vatican, I felt as if he reused phrases, stories, and quotes over and over again. It was repetitive. I thought he could write one chapter really well...but then he wrote nine more. I will say it was very educational and informative about Pope Francis and the Catholic Church, and I think people not in the church would be able to follow it just as easy as if they had been raised Catholic. So now go and read!

[Jodi Tooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provided solid understanding of Vatican politics, challenges Pope Francis is facing and how he’s likely to address them based on his experiences as a Jesuit bishop in Buenos Aires, the son of immigrants, and a man determined to push the love of Christ to the margins of society.

[Steve Herman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author mentions nothing remotely miraculous about Pope Francis, yet the book is not simply puffery. In fact, the concluding chapter notes: “Walk into any Vatican department nearly two years into the Francis era and ask what’s different operationally as a result of the new pope, and the most common response is ‘Nothing.’”

Francis seems to have improved the Vatican Bank, a frequent subject of scandals. But he took office in 2013, several years after the financial crisis, and this timing certainly contributed to his success. Also, European financial regulators have gained increasing leverage over the Vatican bank, and have curtailed some questionable practices.

The gravest crisis the Church has faced in many decades involves crimes of sexual abuse and their cover-up. Allen points to no significant accomplishments on this front. Furthermore, he notes that in 2010, while still Archbishop Bergoglio, he said: “In my diocese, it never happened to me.” Allen remarks: “It was an improbable claim given that Buenos Aires is among the world’s largest Catholic jurisdictions and Bergoglio was in charge during a period in which tens of thousands of victims worldwide came forward to report abuse at the hands of Church personnel. It’s also inconsistent with the public record, since several cases did in fact arise during Bergoglio’s time as archbishop” (p. 167). While this is a bold statement for a Vatican correspondent, it is actually an understatement. Bishop Accountability.org, the leading chronicler of clerical sex abuse, has more detail at http://www.bishop-accountability.org/....

Despite speaking soothing words about child abuse upon taking office, Francis was slow to meet with victims or take any actions. He was quicker to meet with Protestant preachers of the Prosperity Gospel. He even high-fived them, which seems inconsistent with his emphasis on the poor, not to mention Jesus’ teaching. Francis was far less emotional with abuse victims, who were also less than enthusiastic about the meeting.

Years after Pope Francis promised to put an end to the abuse problem, he has done little to further justice. Since about 2001, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has received the personnel files of all priests accused of abuse. There must be hundreds, if not thousands of cases with credible charges, yet none have been turned over to civil authorities. Furthermore, the only bishops who were disciplined were themselves sex abusers. Francis has not disciplined any bishop for covering up abuse, or recycling abusive priests.

Overall, while Mr. Allen was less than effusive with his praise for Francis, I think he was overly stingy with his criticism. The book is not exactly fair and balanced, except perhaps in a common euphemistic sense.

[Susan (aka Just My Op) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not alone in being interested in the relatively new Pope Francis, someone who seems cut from a different cloth, so to speak, from many of the popes over the years. I read this book with no special agenda, no skin in the game, simply because Pope Francis intrigues me.

And I learned a good deal. Based on the writing, the author is apparently quite a fan of the pope, and the book is mostly positive about him and his mostly liberal bent, but also shows the less positive sides, especially when it comes to women in the church and some slower than necessary responses to the sexual abuse scandals that have plagued the church.

The author apparently has done his research, and is well-regarded in the field. The writing was occasionally repetitive, which is perhaps necessary to bring up a previous incident in a different context, and the writing hit a bump once in awhile, but for the most part, it was clear, concise, and quite engaging.

I've read quotes by the pope since this book was written that do concern me a bit, but also love much of what he has to say, including his now famous “Who am I to Judge?” For anyone interested in the pope, whether or not Catholic, whether or not a believer, this book provides insight in a highly readable and interesting form.

I was given an advance readers copy of this book for review.

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A credible view of Papal politics and blazing a path to a new way of Roman Catholic participation in the modern world. Excellent insight into the man who was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio and is now Pope Francis. John L. Allen, Jr., brings balance to the tale that appears top heavy with human interaction between the Pope and the populace and tales of kind acts and good deeds. Mr. Allen evens the scales with interviews of the Pope's detractors and reports of extant problems within the church, most notably ordination of women and financial/fiscal reform.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in the workings of the Roman Catholic Church and the development of a man into a Pope.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since Pope Francis was elected pope I've been curious about him, his background, and the stories behind the TV sound bites. That is what this book is. Allen looks at Bergoglio's influences, is early career and the circumstances that led to his election as pope. Discussed are the changes he is making but Allen also makes a point of clearly stating what is not being changed. The author covers both points of view, the people who praise and those who criticize Pope Francis' actions. A very readable book that, for someone that doesn't know much about the Vatican behind the scenes, gives a glimpse into its inner workings.

Galley courtesy of publisher and Netgalley

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not Catholic but a fan of Pope Francis. This book was a great look into what he's done in the past, what he's doing now, and the promises he's made for the future. The pope not like the others, Francis makes a name for himself each time he steps out. This book gives the reader an inside look into some of the reasons why he may do the things he does, how he's using the vision he has for the church to change policies, and also some of the things he's said he will do that he hasn't done. An honest look at the current pope. Great read.

[Dana Tuss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book and learning more about Pope Francis. And this seems to be pretty fair — it wasn’t all rosy. I find Francis to be fascinating. I love his focus on the poor. I love his idea of reaching out to people. And I just enjoyed learning more about the workings of the Vatican. The end of the book was bogged down a little with names and dates of those in leadership positions that I found kind of dry, but overall a readable informative book.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent insight into this interesting man. He has a unique and thoughtful style of living; however, the politics near the end present a well-balanced story. As Francis has said of himself, "(he's) just a man."

[R Frueh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I wanted it to not be a gushy thing, and it turned out it wasn't. I like Pope Francis, because he seems to want to change things, but instead of changing catechism and traditions, he's going back to the roots of Christianity. Spreading love and hope is appropriate, not judging, etc.

[Lysandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing and interesting account of the life and leadership of this holy man I have the pleasure and blessing to see today. It read really well.

[Marjorie]

Read for an Olli study group book was great

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Learned a lot about our new pope and Vatican.

[Marina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tried to read it, but it became too dry for my tastes.