New book 'Church, Interrupted' heralds Pope Francis as agent of change
(REVIEW) Books about Pope Francis have become something of a thing in the publishing world. It seems like every other month that a new book about the pontiff is released or a news release trumpeting the upcoming release of one finds its way into my email.
The latest book on Francis is Church, Interrupted (available starting March 9) by author John Cornwell, who has written 14 books. Cornwell is something of a papal biographer – although this book is more about the church at this moment and Francis’ papacy rather than his life. Cornwell’s past books — including the controversial Hitler’s Pope about Pius XII and Pontiff in Winter about John Paul II — have been bestsellers. Whether his newest tome will be as well depends on the type of Catholic you are and where you fall on the doctrinal spectrum.
Cornwell’s past books have been controversial. This one can be considered one as well.
Church, Interrupted, published by Chronicle Prism, is available starting March 9.
Unlike any pope of the modern era, no one has been as controversial and polarizing as Francis. Cornwell’s book tries to delve into what motivates this pontiff and his mission. Cornwell writes in the preface that he, like many Catholics, experienced “doubt and disillusionment” with the clerical sex-abuse crisis in the wake of JP II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He sets the tone for the 304-page book by closing the preface this way: “Then, on March 13, 2013, watching the televised appearance of Pope Francis as he first appeared on the balcony above St. Peter’s, I felt the tug of another ‘unseen hook’ and twitch of the string. It was an inclination of the heart, a sense of awakening; some might call it a moment of grace: the possibility of new beginnings, a promise of hope, for the entire church — practicing, lapsing and lapsed.”
Church, Interrupted is largely a defense of Francis and ability to stray from the status quo. He argues that “well-funded media platforms” took on Francis, but the pope had instead “challenged and shook a dysfunctional” church. He argues that Francis has widened Catholicism’s moral priorities, calling for increased compassion over strict dogma.
“This book tells the story of Francis through seven years of a rollercoaster papacy: the difference he has made to the life of the Church; his reactions to world crises, including global poverty, the plight of migrants, racial prejudice, the coronavirus pandemic, and the far reaching future consequences of climate change,” he writes. “Francis warned that his papacy would be short-lived, a reasonable assertion as he was 76 years of age at his election. He set himself an impressive pace of work, travel, and administrative and pastoral labor, crisscrossing the world on more than fifty official papal trips; issuing a torrent of documents and decrees; delivering daily homilies, addresses, and interviews. At the same time, he spent many hours a day in private prayer. And he has done this while being the object of nonstop derision, hostility, and criticism mounting to loathing, from one influential wing of the church. At times he appeared like a long distance runner, his exhausting progress jeered and hampered by the very spectators who should support him.”
Cornwell knows his history and how the Vatican works. Catholics and non-Catholics alike will find those sections enjoyable. Cornwell knows how to do his research and weave a narrative that’s easy to understand. That’s saying a lot given that Cornwell is primarily an academic — but one who writes like a journalist given his previous work for Vanity Fair and London’s Sunday Times. His 2018 Vanity Fair piece “Pope vs. Pope” is worth a read.
The 2013 papal conclave was convened to elect a pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI following his sudden resignation. On the fifth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who at the time served as the archbishop of Buenos Aires. His election marked the first time that a South American would serve as pope and the first Jesuit to head the church.
Despite the controversies and the mixed messages to come out of the Vatican the past few years, Pope Francis does maintain traditional views regarding abortion and clerical celibacy. But he has shaken things up, much to the chagrin of traditionalists, and has opened the door to the possibility of female deacons as priestly vocations continue to drop. Critics argue that this pope has been too focused on social justice and environmental issues. It’s this renewed focus that has effectively made this pope the U.N.’s chaplain, according to Italian journalist Marco Tosatti.
Cornwell himself attended seminary, but quit the possibility of joining the priesthood as a young man. While many in the West no longer attend Mass regularly among a rising tide of secularism, Latin America has seen many Catholics leave to join evangelical churches. Francis also had to deal with the dilemma of two popes given that the shadow of Benedict loomed large in the background and a brewing Vatican bank scandal. These are just some of the issues, Cornwell highlights, that are affecting the modern church.
Chapter 4 may be of most interesting because it tackles the gossip and fake news that has enveloped this pope and the Vatican as a whole in recent years. Cornwell notes Francis is “arguably the first pope, in the modern period at least, to lambaste the malicious tongue-wagging of the Roman prelates.”
Cornwell gives readers a glimpse of what inside the Vatican can be like. Here’s his analysis: “Writing on Vatican and papal affairs over a number of years one eventually takes for granted the prevailing, corrosive, and spiteful potential of clerical gossip, which seeps into news and commentary in the Catholic media. The Vatican whispers provide ample material for the wars between Catholic conservatives and liberals around the world, generating a style of malice and contempt to create a kind of ‘hell,’ as Francis says.”
This is a book that Catholics can learn a lot from. It’s also a book that tries to put Francis into some context, but it certainly will be controversial to traditionalists who quibble with how this pope is trying to transform the church in the 21st century. Those who are on the more progressive end will enjoy this book, but could argue Francis hasn’t gone far enough. Either way, this is a book worth your time.
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor and regular contributor to Religion Unplugged. He is the former deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.