Open to God: Open to the World
Pope Francis’s impact on the modern world was extraordinary.
It is no surprise that he was voted Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2013, joining the likes of Martin Luther King and President John F. Kennedy. Francis turned the Catholic Church upside-down, flung open the windows of the Vatican and started to purge the church of corruption, nepotism and financial scandal. But above all he engaged with the poor, the starving and the marginalised. He has made important visits to troubled spots in the world and invariably people say his appearances change everything.
In this illuminating book are some of his most valuable conversations with people from all over the world. From his talks with priests in Colombia locked in a struggle for human rights to powerful addresses in Myanmar, Peru and Chile.
Open to God: Open to the World offers a fascinating glimpse into the mind and workings of this entirely different Pope. As we see in these conversations the Franciscan revolution had a profound effect on Catholicism and the world. In spite of Francis’s critics, new horizons have opened for the one and a half billion Catholics today.
Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) was born in Buenos Aires in 1936, the son of a railwayman. He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) at the age of 21 and was ordained a priest in 1969. He was elected Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001 with the title of cardinal priest of San Roberto Bellarmino. He was elected the 266th Pope in March 2013 and died in April 2025.
Antonio Spadaro was born in Sicily in 1966. After graduating from Messina University he joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He earned a doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he now teaches at the Theological Faculty. In 2011 he was appointed Consultor of the Pontifical Council for Culture and of the Pontifical Council of Social Communication by Pope Benedict XVI. He currently lives in Rome where he is the director of the long-standing periodical La Civiltà Cattolica.