È uscita in questi giorni una nuova all’edizione inglese del mio volume “The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Intellectual Journey” (Liturgical Press, 2018) su “The Catholic Library World” (vedi foto), Pittsfield Vol. 89, Fasc. 3, (Mar 2019), p. 200.
Secondo l’autore, Arnold Rzepecki, «complete with an excellent index, this work deserves a place in all Catholic academic institutions. As suggested earlier in this review, the book will long remain on the list of the most significant works to support, defend, and understand the amazing papacy of Pope Francis». Qui la recensione:
The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Intellectual Journey By Massimo Borghesi, Liturgical, 2018, 344 pp., ISBN 978-0-8146- 8790-1, $29.95.
Borghesi is a professor of moral theology at the University of Perugia and in his first book published in English has accomplished an amazing feat. The attempt to explain and delve into another person’s mind and intellectuality with any success is indeed challenging, but Borghesi has provided us with what will become the seminal work on how Pope Francis’s mind and intellect have been formed.
In a foreword to the book, Guzman Lecour, the current vice president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, explains the uniqueness of this book among the many that have been written about Jorge Mario Bergoglio since he was elected pope in 2013. Lecour praises Fr. Borghesi’s research in the preparation of this thorough analysis of the cultural background and the intellectual influences that have contributed to the mind of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis is undoubtedly one of the most astute and intellectually prepared of the modern era popes. What makes Borghesi’s book even more daunting is the fact that Pope Francis personally avoids intellectualism in favor of a more simple pastoral style in his writing and teaching.
Borghesi situates the pope within the rich intellectual heritage of Argentina, dispelling the misconception that Latin American theology is somewhat inferior to that of Western European theologians. Some critics view Latin American theology as somewhat limited to Liberation Theology and strongly influenced by Peronism.
Bergoglio, during his years at the Colegio Maximo in San Miguel (Buenos Aires), studied among Jesuit theologians who were followers of the great French theologian Henri de Lubac. Bergoglio was also immersed in the spirituality of the Jesuit saints walking that difficult road between the intellectual life and spirituality. In his introduction, Borghesi does acknowledge the impact of the political and social milieu of Latin America in the early part of the twentieth century on Bergoglio, but his book proves how Bergoglio grew intellectually beyond these socialcultural factors.
Chapter after chapter, each laden with extensive footnotes, trace the intellectual journey of Bergoglio. The reader ultimately comes to realize the significance of the Jesuits: Romano Guardini (on whom Bergoglio wrote his doctoral dissertation), Alberto Methol Ferré, Peter Faber, and Hans Urs von Balthazar—all giants of theology in the pre- and post-Vatican II years.
Complete with an excellent index, this work deserves a place in all Catholic academic institutions. As suggested earlier in this review, the book will long remain on the list of the most significant works to support, defend, and understand the amazing papacy of Pope Francis.
Arnold Rzepecki