John Allen, whose main focus is to cover the Vatican, invites his readers to follow Pope Francis in the Pope’s ministry in leading the Catholic Church in today’s world. Allen calls Francis a man on a mission, a change agent, an
historian, and a reformer.
The first mission is to steer Catholics back to the political and ecclesiastical center after the shift to the right under the last two popes.
His second mission is to “get out of the sacristy and into the streets”. The church doesn’t wait for people to walk through the door but gets out to meet them where they live.
His third mission of this Pope is to decentralize Catholicism by taking power from Rome and
returning it to local churches worldwide. The Roman collar should mean service, not power or privilege.
Allen gives a rather complete picture of the roots of Francis, the influence that helped mark his personality (such as being a leader among Jesuits), and now mark his style of leadership.
Some pf the ten chapters deal with:
a) Women in the church
b) The abuse scandal
c) A moderate to an extreme focus
d) The social Gospel, care of the poor
e) Power in leadership vs. humility in
service
f) Will the influence of Francis last?
g) Synods in the church
h) The stance of Francis on
such topics as: remarriage, abortion, same sex marriage, birth control, responsibility of bishops
What a man! What a Pope! What a leader for today’s world!
