It’s no secret that Pope Francis loves literature: He slips references to Greek and Roman classics into his interviews, includes poetry excerpts in his encyclicals, and during the pandemic, he referenced the Italian novel about the 19th century plague, the promised .
however, his literary references go beyond appreciation: literature informs how pope francis views the world and how he leads the church. Take The Betrothed, for example: The novel’s main action takes place in a lazaretto, a field hospital run by Franciscans, which papal biographer Austen Ivereigh believes was the inspiration for Pope Francis’s oft-invoked image of the Catholic church as a field hospital. During the pandemic, Pope Francis often cited the novel, drawing inspiration from one of the Franciscan friar’s sermons that urged plague survivors to consider why their lives were saved and resolve to build a future “that will be all charity.” .
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Literature informs how Pope Francis sees the world and how he leads the church.
In this special episode of America Media’s “Inside the Vatican” podcast, Mr. Ivereigh joins host Colleen Dulle to discuss three literary works that have shaped Pope Francis: Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed; lord of the world, by robert hugh benson; and a story, “the garden of the forking paths”, by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. think of it as a pope francis inspired summer reading list, if your idea of a beach read is a 700 page plague novel, a dystopian story about the antichrist, or a weird spy story beloved by theorists of media and quantum physicists.
Listen to the special episode:
1. the bride, by alessandro manzoni
When Pope Francis was a child, his grandparents used to read him this Italian classic, the definitive edition of which was published in 1842. For many years, the future pope was able to recite the first sentences by heart. In fact, when Francisco was elected in 2013 and gave his first important interview, published in America magazine, he had the book on his desk.
the epic 720-page italian novel follows a young couple, renzo and lucia, who hope to marry, but their plans are thwarted by the local baron, don rodrigo, who hires thugs to scare the vicar out of going through with it. with the wedding The lovers’ separation and struggle to be reunited takes place amidst a plague in Milan in the 1630s, where much of the city has been turned into a field hospital, or lazzaretto, run by a brave group of Franciscan friars. it is there that renzo, looking for lucia, meets the franciscan superior, padre felice. he is giving a sermon to a group of plague survivors, asking them to consider why their lives have been saved and exhorting them to move on, living lives “that will be all charity.”
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Pope Francis has often referred to the betrothed, borrowing their image of the pesthouse to describe the church as “not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.”
Pope Francis has often referred to the betrothed, borrowing their image of the lazzaretto to describe the church as not “a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners,” an image he has put into practice by instituting a year of mercy in 2016 and allowing, in some cases, divorced and remarried Catholics to take communion again. the pope has also recommended the novel to young couples seeking marriage.
why read it? As well as being highly recommended by the Pope, this classic Italian novel is a gripping read, and provides a starting point for considering the future as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. lord of the world, by robert hugh benson
although it is not certain where pope francis first found this dystopian novel from 1907, written by a well-known english monsignor, it is one of the books that pope francis usually recommends to understand his warnings about the “ideological colonization” that can come from globalization, that is, the danger that one culture becomes so dominant that others assimilate to it and lose their “local flavor” (cf. “fratelli tutti”, no. 142).
This novella depicts the rise of the antichrist, who comes in the form of a seductive world leader, julian felsenburgh. The nations of the world declare an end to all wars after Felsenburgh reveals to them that there is no god and that divinity is contained entirely within humanity. Finally, the nations come together to worship Felsenburgh, and what little Catholic church remains prepares for a final apocalyptic battle between the pope and the so-called “lord of the world.”
Lord of the World is one of the books that Pope Francis usually recommends to understand his warnings about the “ideological colonization” that can result from globalization.
why read it? Recommended by both Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Lord of the World deftly turns a number of theological concepts that have been important to the last two popes into prose fiction: Julian Felsenburg is a textbook example of St. . Ignacio’s description of the evil spirit appearing “like an angel of light”; The secular humanistic religion around Felsenburg shows the danger of what the theologian Henri de Lubac, S.J., called “spiritual worldliness”; and the homogeneity taking over the world illustrates one of the reasons why francis and benedict have, at times, been highly critical of globalization. this novel will challenge ideas from across the ecclesiastical-political spectrum, and the apocalyptic sci-fi plot makes for a quick and engaging read.
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3. “The Garden of Forking Paths”, by Jorge Luis Borges
Our latest selection, a short story by Pope Francis’ Argentine companion, comes with a charming backstory: When Pope Francis was a young Jesuit teaching high school literature in Buenos Aires, he managed to get celebrated writer Jorge Luis borges to spend a few days talking to his students, an appearance that professors from a nearby university compared to “the berlin philharmonic coming to play ‘happy birthday’ at a children’s party,” recalls one of bergoglio’s students, jorge milia , in mr. the book of ivereigh the great reformer.
After Borges’s appearance at Bergoglio’s school, the young Jesuit challenged his students to put their lessons into practice by writing their own stories, which Bergoglio sent to Borgoglio for review. To Bergoglio’s surprise, Borges replied that he loved the collection of stories and that he wanted to write a prologue for it. it was published shortly thereafter under the title original stories.
read this story as a quick introduction to a writer pope francis respects and as another entry to reflect on the future: this time, in the form of a warning: reflect, then go ahead and act!
Pope Francis often refers to the writings of Borges; He quoted one of Borges’s poems, “Unknown Street,” in his encyclical “Amoris Laetitia” and referred to the “Garden of Forking Paths” in his book with Austen Ivereigh, Let’s Dream.
A psychological puzzle within a spy story, “The Garden of Forking Paths” depicts a mystery surrounding a great writer who was believed to have left behind a great novel and a maze. finally, it is revealed that the novel is the labyrinth: it is a story that accounts for all possible paths, some of which fold back on themselves, forming an inescapable labyrinth.
Pope Francis borrows the image in Soñemos, in which he talks about life after the pandemic, warning against getting trapped in a labyrinth of “forking paths of infinite possibilities that never get us where we need to be.” : which is, against thinking so much about the future that we forget to live it.
why read it? Jorge Luis Borges’s writing is humble and playful. Read this story as a quick introduction to a writer Pope Francis respects and as another entry to reflect on the future: this time, in the form of a warning: reflect, then go ahead and act!
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