People see Pope Francis in different ways. For those concerned with climate change, the environment, poverty and justice, he is an astonishing moral force. For those concerned with gay marriage, abortion rights, making women priests, and child-abuse, he is a disappointment. You cannot understand Francis unless you understand his story. That story is best told in Austen Ivereigh’s The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope.

The New York Times called The Great Reformer “the best English-language biography of the pope to date.” Other reviews, including those from the most knowledgeable Catholic reporters, like John Allen at Crux, are equally enthusiastic.

Ivereigh is a British Catholic writer and commentator on religious and political issues. He writes: “This is a story not just of the man but of his three great reforms: of the Argentine Jesuit province, of the Argentine Church, and now of the Universal Church.” Continue reading →