Best Selling Books by Pope Francis

Reflections on the scriptures and on the pastoral experiences of Pope Francis.

In this typically heart-warming apostolic letter, Pope Francis explores the meaning of the nativity scene, its origins, and the untold importance it has for society today. With references to the first nativity scene, attributed to St Francis of Assisi in Greccio, Italy, Pope Francis explores the history of the crib and its profound and everlasting symbolism. He also explores its implication for Christians today, at a time when, despite great wealth and prosperity, so many in society are told that there is 'no room at the inn'.

Desiderio desideravi, the title of Pope Francis’s 2022 document on the sacred liturgy, comes from the Latin version of Luke 22:15: “I have earnestly desired (Desiderio desideravi) to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Pope Francis begins this beautiful and relatively short reflection on the beauty, goodness, and truth of the sacred liturgy by reminding us of the Most Holy Trinity’s love for us and desire for us. Responding to the need demonstrated by the desire of some Catholics for the pre-Vatican II Mass, Pope Francis encourages a deepening of our understanding of the Eucharist in order that we might fully appreciate the riches in the liturgy. The pope’s text is accompanied by a helpful introduction and commentary by prominent liturgical and sacramental theologian, Kevin W. Irwin.

Maybe you come from a happy family, a healthy family. Or maybe yours is a flawed family, a struggling family, a broken family. Maybe you're scared to get married and have a family. No matter who you are, you are part of a family, and Pope Francis wrote this love letter to you. He addresses all the myriad realities of families today with compassion, hope, and encouragement.Pope Francis sees marriage as a dynamic path to personal development and fulfillment. Instead of wasting energy worrying about our family struggles, we can find creative, transformative ways to offer truth, mercy, and hope to our loved ones. Love enables us to see, beyond all else, the great worth of a human being. With enthusiasm and joy, we can celebrate all that it means to be part of a family.

Pope Francis offers a profound and compelling reflection on humanity's need for faith in his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei, which completes the work of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Without the light of faith, he writes, "all other lights begin to dim." Speaking of those today who view faith as a kind of darkness or only to be sought when reason fails, the Holy Father says faith "sees things as Jesus himself sees them." Far from divorcing us from reality, our faith in Jesus "enables us to grasp reality's deepest meaning and to see how much God loves this world." Book jacket.

Pope Franciss first encyclical illuminates the urgent need in todays secularized culture to reclaim faith as the guiding light to understanding human existence. On a spectrum from past to present whereby faith is understood as both hearing and seeing, faith is considered in light of idolatry, reason, science, knowledge, truth, love, and theology. Showing us how we can enhance the richness of our human relations within the family and society, Pope Francis sets us on the luminous path to creating a constellation of faith.

Invites readers to prayerfully reflect on Pope Francis's words from his Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde, on St. Joseph, and to apply them to our lives. Enriched with beautiful, colorful fine art illustrations.

Gathered from the writings and discourses of Pope Francis on the environment, Our Mother Earth sets forth a Christian vision of ecology. Responding to our global ecological crisis, Pope Francis says, will require a global approach in which "the whole human family in the search for a sustainable and integral development" unites to protect our common home. Pollution, climate change, loss of biodiversity, and exploitation of resources will grow exponentially if we do not change our direction in the short term. We need an "environmental conversion," Pope Francis says. For this to be possible, we need a truly ecological education to create a renewed awareness and a renewed conscience. In an exclusive new essay that concludes Our Mother Earth, Pope Francis develops a "theology of ecology" in a profoundly spiritual discourse. This final chapter offers thoughts on how a Christian vision of care for the earth goes well beyond a secular vision of ecology. "This means that it is for humanity's capacity for communion to condition the state of creation. … It is therefore humanity's destiny to determine the destiny of the universe."

"The Gospel of Luke is a pastoral commentary on the Gospel by Pope Francis, drawn from his homilies, writings, and speeches since he was elected pope"--

"The Sacraments are not mere appearances, they are not rituals; they are the power of Christ; Jesus Christ is present in the Sacraments." - Pope Francis Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Holy Matrimony, Reconciliation, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick - as Catholics we are familiar with the sacraments, and see them as mileposts in our lives. But, as Pope Francis so energetically reminds us, they are not simply observances, they are portals through which the Lord brings us all the power and graces that flow from his death and Resurrection. And wonderfully, each sacrament opens us to a personal encounter with Jesus. Now in 32 easy-to-read chapters Pope Francis reveals the truth and beauty of each Sacrament, teaching us not only what they mean to the Church, but to us as Catholics - ultimately motivating us each to share these incredible gifts with a needy world.

This brief book, excerpted from the papal exhortation Amoris Laetitia, distills for those about to be married, just married, or living their marriage, the essence of the value of a lifelong union and the beauty of the vocation to marriage. In addition, Pope Francis speaks of the reality of family and of children, who are a living reflection of the couple's love, a permanent sign of their conjugal unity, and a living and inseparable synthesis of their being a father and a mother. +

In his apostolic exhortation C'Est La Confiance ("It Is Confidence"), Pope Francis reflects on Saint Thérèse of Lisieux on the 150th anniversary of her birth. The title of the document is taken from words used by Saint Thérèse in a letter to a Carmelite sister expressing her full confidence in the merciful love of God. As she stated, "It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love." Thérèse (1873-1897), popularly known as the "Little Flower," is one of the best known and most beloved saints. Pope Francis writes that "[w]e would do well to delve more deeply into her message" shared in her Story of a Soul as well as the example she set forth with her "little way" of life — the path of trust and love. Therese, for her part, wished to highlight the primacy of God's action; she encourages us to have complete confidence as we contemplate the love of Christ poured out to the end," Pope Francis writes. "With confidence, the wellspring of grace overflows into our lives, the Gospel takes flesh within us and makes us channels of mercy for our brothers and sisters."

In his apostolic letter Sublimitas et Miseria Hominis ("The Grandeur and Misery of Man"), Pope Francis pays homage to Blaise Pascal on the four-hundredth anniversary of his birth.

An inspirational little book that is a collection of homilies, addresses, and audiences given by Pope Francis in the days following his election on March 13 up until Easter Monday, April 1, 2013.

In the COVID crisis, the beloved shepherd of over one billion Catholics saw the cruelty and inequity of our society exposed more vividly than ever before. He also saw, in the resilience, generosity, and creativity of so many people, the means to rescue our society, our economy, and our planet. In direct, powerful prose, Pope Francis urges us not to let the pain be in vain.

In his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum ("Praise God"), Pope Francis addresses environmental concerns in the world with the respect to human life and dignity. This follow-up to his encyclical Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home looks at what has happened since 2015 when the encyclical was released and what still needs to be done. Pope Francis expounds upon the theme of human ecology presented in Laudato Si' and the idea that humans and the environment are inextricably intertwined. This new document focuses in particular on the most recent extreme weather events and catastrophes affecting people across five continents. The Holy Father urges greater environmental action and notes how environmental degradation can lead to human degradation, especially in how the poor and marginalized are treated. Laudate Deum was released on October 4, the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the pope's namesake whose words open Laudato Si'.

Some letters written previously to being Pope.

Drawn from his writings, speeches, and homilies, this collection by Pope Francis lays out the comprehensive vision behind his historic encyclical Laudato Si' and shows how concern for the earth calls for a profound conversion of values that involves a new understanding of our relation to God's Creation.

In Your Eyes I See My Words, Volume 2 contains Pope Francis’s homilies and speeches spanning from 2005 to 2008. Continuing what began in the first volume of this three-volume publication, Volume 2 shows Archbishop Bergoglio’s growth as a pastor and a theologian/scholar in the midst of his people. At the same time, it shows him emerging as an international voice calling for changes in the way the Church carries out its ministry and its educational task on behalf of children, youth, adults, and church ministers. In his homilies from Christmas, Easter, and especially in his response to the tragic fire and deaths of 194 people at the nightclub Republica Cromañon, we see Bergoglio speak passionately to his parishioners, challenging them with equal portions of tenderness and righteous anger. Perhaps uniquely, we also watch as his audiences, prominence, and influence grow globally, foreshadowing who he will become in 2013 when he is elected Pope. On the larger national and international scale, Bergoglio addresses various conferences, such as the Argentina Press Association and the Episcopal Conference of Argentina of which he was elected President in 2005 and served the maximum possible term of six years. We see and read as his work takes him outside his country to Rome (2007) at the Pontifical Commission for Latin America; to Brasil (2007), where his presentation on the Crisis of Civilization and Culture at the Fifth CELAM Conference ends up shaping much of the Aparecida Conclusions; and finally, to Quebec (2008) as he speaks at the Forty-Ninth International Eucharistic Congress. All told, In Your Eyes I See My Words, Volume 2 is a glimpse into a period of time in which Archbishop Bergoglio grows immensely in thought, reflection, and action, laying the groundwork for the mature, thoughtful, and beloved Pope Francis he has come to be known as around the world.

In his fourth encyclical, Dilexit Nos ("He loved us"), Pope Francis writes, at a time of profound global challenges, on the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ. As Pope Francis observes, "We find ourselves immersed in societies of serial consumers who live from day to day, dominated by the hectic pace and bombarded by technology, lacking in the patience needed to engage in the processes that an interior life by its very nature requires." The Holy Father calls for a change of perspective, urging humanity to rediscover what is most essential: the heart. In Dilexit Nos, Pope Francis invites us to reflect on aspects of the Lord's love that could illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal and resonate meaningfully with "a world that seems to have lost its heart." This encyclical, which includes reflections from Sacred Scripture and previous magisterial teachings, reintroduces the Church to the spiritually profound devotion to the Sacred Heart. The encyclical's release coincides with ongoing celebrations commemorating the 350th anniversary of the first appearance of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673, when he revealed to her his Sacred Heart.

A month of thoughts from Pope Francis on the Virgin Mary.

What is prayer and why is it so important? Pope Francis teaches that prayer is the "heartbeat of the Church" and our "yes" to an encounter with God: In the human body, there are some essential functions, such as breathing and the beating of the heart. I like to imagine that the personal and communal prayer of us Christians is the breath, the heartbeat of the Church, which instills its strength in the service of those who work, study, teach; which makes fruitful the knowledge of educated people and the humility of simple people; which gives hope to the tenacity of those who fight injustice. Prayer is our saying "yes" to the Lord, to His love that reaches us; it is welcoming the Holy Spirit who, without ever growing weary, pours out love and life upon all. While we are not always conscious of our breath, we can never stop breathing, because this is the source of our physical life. In the same way, prayer is the source — the very breath — of our spiritual life. Each time we pray, we encounter God and come to share more fully in his life.

The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy has come to and end, but mercy must continue to be lived out and celebrated in our communities. In this Apostolic letter, issued at the Jubilee's conclusion, Pope Francis proposes various initiatives and points of reference to ensure that we continue to build our lives on mercy.Mercy can never be a mere parenthesis in the life of the Church; it constitutes her very existence, through which the profound truths of the Gospel are made manifest and tangible. Everything is revealed in mercy; everything is resolved in the merciful love of the Father. Pope Francis, Misericordia et Misera.