Pope Francis’ Hope

According to Carlo Musso, the co-author of the book “Hope,” the autobiography of Pope Francis was originally intended to be published after his death.  However, because of the Jubilee of Hope in 2025, the pope was moved to make this book available now.

The work on the writing of the book began in 2019 and was the fruit of numerous meetings, conversations and the study of public and private documents. The title page of the book carries the author’s name, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis with Carlo Musso and translated from the original Italian “Spera” by Richard Dixon (Random House, New York, 2025).

The book begins in the early years of the 20th century with Pope Francis’ Italian roots and his ancestors’ immigration to Argentina. It essentially tells the story of his life from his childhood days in Buenos Aires through his days of youth and his call to the priesthood. A major part of the book, of course, is devoted to his days in the priesthood and as a cardinal and finally his papacy.

An interesting addition to the book is the collection of photographs of Pope Francis as a baby, as a little boy, as a first communicant, as a priest and at significant moments of his papacy.

One interesting anecdote about his childhood was when he said he loved reading above all and that he could read anywhere, even on the edge of a soccer field. He made mention a 20-volume children’s encyclopedia called “El Tesoro de la Juventud.” He found it a real treasure because it contained extracts from the classics’ adventure tales, history, photography, stories about scientific progress, the wonders of Nature and human creativity.

In his book, Pope Francis has a long narrative that led to his decision to become a priest. One of his vivid memories is his visit as a young priest to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the cities that experienced the horrors of the atomic bomb. He wrote, “It is immoral just as the possession of an atomic weapon is immoral. We will be judged for this. Future generations will stand up and judge us for our failure if peace is no more than an empty word and if we haven’t achieved it through our actions with other peoples on the earth.”

One of the recurring themes in his book is that injustice “is the wicked root of poverty.”

On Dec. 13, 1969, he was ordained to the priesthood. On July 31, 1973, he was made Provincial Superior of the Jesuits. At 36, he was the youngest to have occupied the position in Argentina.

My own personal opinion is that the book does not dwell enough on his days as Provincial Superior and as Bishop Cardinal of Buenos Aires. There are of course stories not in the book that have criticized Pope Francis for his silence during those days in Argentina when the government was an oppressive regime.

There is an interesting paragraph about his election as pope. He writes that while he deemed he could influence a number of votes during the conclave, he was not the main candidate. The main candidates, according to him, were Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan; Sean O’Malley, the cardinal from Boston; Odilo Scherer, the archbishop of Sao Paolo; Mark Ouelled, the Canadian cardinal.

He was elected to the papacy on the fourth ballot.

According to the book, two incidents inspired him to take the name “Francis.” Cardinal Hummes, who had studied at a Franciscan seminary, came to embrace him and said: “Don’t forget the poor.” During the days of the conclave, he also saw a homeless man wandering around St. Peter’s Square with a placard around his neck. On it was written: “Pope Francis I.”

In the book’s last two chapters, Pope Francis discusses the most important values to him and the meaning of hope. For example, he says: “Education is the most exciting challenge in life; it has been for me, too… Education is always an act of hope that looks from the present toward the future; and like hope, it is a wanderer because there is no such thing as a static education.”

On a personal note, Pope Francis says: “Hope grows in me when I meet young people… The truth is, more than judging our young people, we need firstly to ask their forgiveness… The truth is, also what we have passed on to the new generation is not always a gift we ourselves have known how to value and cherish.”

On another topic, Pope Francis said: “Democracy too, that democracy for which our grandparents fought in so many parts of the world does not seem to enjoy excellent health, exposed as it is to the risk of virtualization that replaces participation or empties meaning. And in this, an information system based on social networks in the hands of extremely powerful business oligarchs can only represent a further danger that we must keep an eye on.”

As I was reading this, I could not help but wonder whether Pope Francis was referring to Elon Musk.

In his last chapter, Pope Francis ends with a message of hope: “The Church always has a future… The Church will go on. I am just one step in its history… A Church that is closed, frightened, is a dead Church.”

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