Encyclicals

What makes Pope Francis tick? And why does it matter? As the first Jesuit pope in history, Francis has brought a radical shift in focus that stems directly from a long line of Jesuits dating back to St. Ignatius of Loyola. In All the Pope's Saints, you'll get to know many Jesuit saintsboth famous and notwho are the Holy Father's heroes and role models.

Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have each approached the papacy in strikingly different ways, yet they share the same fundamental vision of the world and man. In these pages, Cardinal Muller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explores the differences and commonalities of these two popes, showing how the challenge for the Church's hierarchy remains the same, and how these two popes are leading the Church to resist worldly infections and to heal the spiritual diseases of our time.

He also provides a succinct and fascinating look into the universal ministry of the Church, showing how the popes, as successors to Peter, are the visible head of the pilgrim Church and are tasked with carrying out the pastoral ministry of Christ.

After meditating on the Apostles and then on the Fathers of the early Church, as seen in his earlier works Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church and Church Fathers, Pope Benedict XVI devoted his attention to the most influential Christian men from the fifth through the twelfth centuries. In his first book, Church Fathers, Benedict began with Clement of Rome and ended with Saint Augustine. In this volume, the Holy Father reflects on some of the greatest theologians of the Middle Ages: Benedict, Anselm, Bernard, and Gregory the Great, to name just a few. By exploring both the lives and the ideas of the great popes, abbots, scholars and missionaries who lived during the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christendom, Pope Benedict XVI highlights the key elements of Catholic dogma and practice that remain the foundation stones not only of the Roman Catholic Church but of Christian society itself. This book is a wonderful way to get to know these later Church Fathers and Teachers and the tremendous spiritually rich patrimony they have bequeathed to us.

"Without this vital sap, man is exposed to the danger of succumbing to the ancient temptation of seeking to redeem himself by himself."
-- Pope Benedict XVI

"Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, was a man whose life was the expression of a richly textured and multidimensional soul. The many layers of that soul took on their first, mature form in Kraków." - George Weigel

In this beautifully illustrated spiritual travelogue, New York Times bestselling author George Weigel leads readers through the historic streets of Kraków, Poland, introducing one of the world's great cities through the life of one of the most influential Catholic leaders of all time.

"To follow Karol Wojtyla through Kraków is to follow an itinerary of sanctity while learning the story of a city." Weigel writes. "Thus, in what follows, the story of Karol Wojtyla, St. John Paul II, and the story of Kraków are interwoven in a chronological pilgrimage through the life of a saint that reveals, at the same time, the dramatic history and majestic culture of a city where a boy grew into a man, priest, a bishop--and an apostle to the world."

With stunning photographs by Stephen Weigel and notes on the city's remarkable fabric by Carrie Gress, City of Saints offers an in-depth look at a man and a city that made an indelible impression on the life and thought of the Catholic Church and the 21st century world.

This exposition of Pope John Paul II's teachings on sexuality provides commentary on, and interpretation of, the Holy Father's addresses and writings.

Pope Francis: Embrace of Hope, Compassion in Times of Illness is filled with the pope's insight and inspiration for all who face the test of sickness and illness. Pope Francis shows how hope is found in seeing and experiencing illness in the light of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

He reveals how grace grows in times of illness when:

Christians bring the peace of Christ to the sick through service and care.

Difficult moments become the path to forge stronger relationships with family, communities, and with Christ.

Men and women in science cultivate and apply God's gift of creation for the treatment and cure of diseases, setting free the oppressed.

Christ sets one free, helps one endure, and allows suffering for the sake of a greater joy yet to come.

This easy-to-read book has the best of Pope Francis's reflections on this challenging human experience.

Presented in an elegant design, this small book is easy to take with you and a joy to read!

Francis, rebuild my Church! That is how St. Francis of Assisi heard the call of Christ. It is also how Jorge Mario Bergoglio, at the age of 76, and a Jesuit, seems to have accepted his election to the papacy with the choice of a name that no other pope has ever chosen.Who is Pope Francis, elected in one of the shortest conclaves in history? Who is the man chosen to be the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit pope?How does he see the world and his ministry? How does he understand his call to serve Christ, his Church, and the world? In short, what is the mind and heart of this new pope of a new world--of the Americas and the rest of the world of the 21st Century?In the words, the ideas, and the personal recollections of Pope Francis--including material up to the final hours before his election--the most highly regarded Vatican observer on the international scene reveals the personality of this man of God, gentle and humble. The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, he made radically following Christ and the way of non-violence the pillars of his pastoral ministry in a country, continually tormented by social and economic inequities.This complete biography offers the keys to understanding the man who was a surprise choice, even a kind of revolutionary choice, for pope. It is the story of the humble pastor of one of the world's largest archdioceses; a cardinal who takes the bus, talks with common folk, and lives simply. It is the story of why the cardinal electors of the Catholic Church set aside political and diplomatic calculations to elect a pope to lead the renewal and purification of the worldwide Church of our time.

"This book is... my personal search 'for the face of the Lord.'" --Benedict XVI

In this bold, momentous work, the pope--in his first book written as Benedict XVI--seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent "popular" depictions and to restore Jesus' true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the pope shares a rich, compelling, flesh-and-blood portrait of Jesus and incites us to encounter, face-to-face, the central figure of the Christian faith.

From Jesus of Nazareth... "the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: But what has Jesus really brought, then, if he has not brought world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the God who once gradually unveiled his countenance first to Abraham, then to Moses and the prophets, and then in the wisdom literature--the God who showed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the peoples of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love."

Pope John Paul II was a great defender of truly vulnerable human beings throughout his life, affirming their personhood consistently and powerfully. In John Paul II on the Vulnerable, Jeffrey Tranzillo provides a lucid introduction to John Paul IIs philosophical and theological understanding of the human person. Unlike other writings on the topic, Tranzillos explicit aim is to highlight an aspect of John Pauls work that has been largely neglected until now. He shows convincingly that John Pauls seminal reflections on the human being as a personal agent progressed over time to include human beings at even the most vulnerable stages of development or decline. With this advance in thought, the pontiff began to declare eloquently that the vulnerable are capable of contributing to and enriching the human community through their activity.

His adult life was unremarkable; in his role as Papal Nuncio to France, he was considered an "affable amateur." When he was elected pope in 1958, it was thought he would be a placeholder, someone who was easily controllable until the Curia could decide on a worthy successor. Instead, Giuseppe Roncalli, Pope John XXIII, distinguished himself by establishing a spirit of aggiornamento-- "opening wide the windows of the Church"--and convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962.

Walters brings you into the life and times of Pope John XXIII, from his simple upbringing as one of fourteen children growing up on a farm in Italy, to his seminary education and formative role models, through his ministry in the Church, leading up to his election as pope in 1958. Walters then focuses on the key ways Roncalli sought to reform the Church, and shepherd it into the twenty-first century.

Walters shows that what was perceived by the hierarchy as mediocrity was indeed a deep humility that enabled the pope to truly be a model of Christian discipleship. Il Buono Papa, the Good Pope, will inspire you with his love for God, for all people, and for the Church itself. This is a book to be enjoyed and treasured as we witness the recognition given John XXIII as a saint for our times.

The story of the first Pope to resign in over 700 years.

Pope Benedict made history when he became the first Pope in over 700 years to resign from office, stunning the Catholic Church the world over. At last, Last Testament is a stunning and frank autobiography from the shy and private man who has since remained cloistered in a former convent in the Vatican gardens. In interviews with Peter Seewald, the Pope Emeritus breaks his silence on corruption within the Vatican, clerical sex scandals, and the challenge of reforming the Papacy.

In these interviews, Benedict discusses such wide-ranging controversies as:

- The "Vatileaks" case in which his butler leaked some of his personal letters that alleged corruption and scandal in the Vatican
- The presence of a "gay lobby" within the Vatican and how he dismantled it
- His alleged Nazi upbringing
- His attempts at cleaning up the "dirt in the church" (clerical sexual abuse)
- The mysterious private secretary "Gorgeous George"

On a more personal level he writes with great warmth of his successor Pope Francis, who he admits has a popular touch, a star quality which Benedict himself has lacked. Much controversy still surrounds Pope Benedict's Papacy--in this book he addresses these controversies and reveals how at his late age, governing and reforming the Papacy and particularly the Vatican, was beyond him.

Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humane Vitae (Of Human Life) continues to speak volumes in our continuously changing world. This book takes an in-depth look at Humanae Vitae and compares it to other Church documents that speak about God's plan for marital love, marriage, children, family, and the community at large.