Available today on bookshelves everywhere, of both the physical and virtual sort, is Image Books’ English translation of On Heaven and Earth, a dialogue between Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Pope Francis, published while he was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires.
In a word, it’s well worth the read.
The book first appeared in Spanish in 2010, and it’s invaluable as a guide to the thinking of the pope across a wide range of issues — from Capitalism and globalization to interreligious dialogue and feminism, even matters of leadership style.
“The bad leader is the one who is self-assured and stubborn,” the pope writes at one point. “One of the characteristics of a bad leader is to be excessively normative because of his self-assurance.”
Those lusting for a bumper crop of new papal norms, in other words, may be in for a few lean years.
Though he doesn’t exactly come off as a laugh riot, Francis even serves up a couple of quips. Discussing a certain strain of feminism that he believes promotes a masculine model of gender conflict, he refers to it tongue-in-cheek as “chauvinism with skirts.”
One caution is in order: It’s not always possible to draw a straight line between views expressed prior to election to the papacy, and what someone will do once they’re actually in the job.
Famously, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger expressed opposition to Turkey’s candidacy to join the European Union in a 2004 interview with Le Figaro, but as pope he upheld the Vatican’s standard line, which is neutrality as long as certain human rights guarantees are met (especially religious freedom).
That said, for those wondering where Francis will come down on any number of issues — priestly celibacy, end-of-life care, refusal of communion to Catholic politicians who break with church teaching, and so on — On Heaven and Earth is the best early guide out there. Continue reading
Sources
- John L Allen Jnr in National Catholic Reporter
- Image: The Malaysia Insider
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