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The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio's Intellectual Journey
"Originally published as Jorge Mario Una biografia intellettuale �2017 Editoriale Jaca Book SpA, Milano"--Title page verso.
- GenresBiographyPhilosophy
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 15, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 21, 2026
A fascinating and demanding book. Borghesi does something particularly valuable here: he challenges the rather lazy caricature of Pope Francis as a gifted pastor with little intellectual depth.
By tracing Bergoglio’s engagement with thinkers such as Romano Guardini, Gaston Fessard, Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Alberto Methol Ferré, Borghesi reveals a much richer and more coherent intellectual world behind Francis’s apparently simple language. I found especially illuminating the importance of polarity in his thought: the attempt to hold realities in creative tension rather than resolving everything through rigid oppositions.
The book can be quite dense, and it is certainly not an introductory biography of Francis. But it helped me understand much better the intellectual foundations of ideas that run throughout his pontificate: discernment, mercy, encounter, the priority of reality over abstraction, and a Church that refuses to retreat from the complexity of the world.
I already admired Pope Francis greatly. This book helped me understand him better - AE
By tracing Bergoglio’s engagement with thinkers such as Romano Guardini, Gaston Fessard, Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Alberto Methol Ferré, Borghesi reveals a much richer and more coherent intellectual world behind Francis’s apparently simple language. I found especially illuminating the importance of polarity in his thought: the attempt to hold realities in creative tension rather than resolving everything through rigid oppositions.
The book can be quite dense, and it is certainly not an introductory biography of Francis. But it helped me understand much better the intellectual foundations of ideas that run throughout his pontificate: discernment, mercy, encounter, the priority of reality over abstraction, and a Church that refuses to retreat from the complexity of the world.
I already admired Pope Francis greatly. This book helped me understand him better - AE
August 16, 2022
It is a difficult read for the average lay person, but it still paints a compelling portrait of Pope Francis. This is a man who sees all the shades of gray and approaches doctrine and lived faith with a “both/and” mindset. Above all, he seeks to show mercy.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews