Contents
Foreword by Guzmán Carriquiry Lecour
Introduction
1. A Horizon Marked by Profound Contrasts
At the Origins of a System of Thought: Gaston Fessard and the
Theology of “As If”
Juan Domingo Perón and the Church
The Unity of Universal and Particular, Center and Periphery: The
Lesson of Amelia Podetti
City of God and Earthly City: The Relevance of Augustine
The Pueblo Fiel as Theological Source
2. A Philosophy of Polarity 57
The Society of Jesus as Synthesis of Oppositions
Jesuits and Dialectical Thought: Przywara, de Lubac, Fessard
The Dialectical Thomism of Alberto Methol Ferré
3. The Theory of Polar Opposition: Bergoglio and Romano
Guardini
Doctoral Thesis on Guardini
Principles and Polarity: Similarities between Bergoglio and
Guardini
Polar Opposition and the Common Good: Sineidetic Thought
Power, Nature, Technology: Guardini in Laudato Si’
4. Church and Modernity: Methol Ferré and the Catholic
Risorgimento in Latin America
Vatican II as the Overcoming of the Reformation and the
Enlightenment
From Medellín to Puebla: The Latin American Catholic
Risorgimento
Catholicism and Modernity: The Lesson of Augusto Del Noce
Libertine Atheism and the Critique of the Opulent Society
5. A World without Bonds: The Primacy of the Economy in the Era
of Globalization
Globalization and the Latin American Patria Grande: Methol Ferré
and Bergoglio
Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate
Evangelii Gaudium’s Critique of Inequality
6. At the School of Saint Ignatius: Life as Witness
Narrative Thought and Theologia Crucis: An Ignatian Tension
Michel de Certeau’s Biography of Peter Faber
Being and the Unity of the Beautiful, the Good, and the True:
Bergoglio and Hans Urs von Balthasar
7. Christianity and the Contemporary World
Mercy and Truth: Amoris Laetitia and the Morenita’s Gaze
Encounter as “Beginning”: The New Balance between Kerygma and
Morality
Aparecida: The Christian Style in the Twenty-First Century
Index
Massimo Borghesi is professor of moral philosophy at the University of Perugia. He is the author of several books, including The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Intellectual Journey (Liturgical Press, 2018) and volumes on Augusto del Noce, Luigi Giussani, and political theology.
"Massimo Borghesi's book is the first real intellectual biography
of Jorge Mario Bergoglio and it builds a bridge between the
different universes of today's global Catholicism: different
generations of Catholics; different areas of the world; different
theological, philosophical, and socio-political backgrounds. This
book is an invaluable contribution for the comprehension of this
pontificate and potentially a game-changer for the reception of
Pope Francis, especially in the English-speaking world."Massimo
Faggioli, Professor of Historical Theology, Villanova
University
"Borghesi helps us to see that Pope Francis's originality comes not
only from the depth of his intellectual formation, but also from
his practice of looking for the resolution of conflicts not only
through careful listening and thoughtful reflection, but also
through prayerful discernment. It is exactly the kind of
originality one might expect from the first Jesuit pope."
J. Matthew Ashley, University of Notre Dame, America
"Pope Francis' predecessor was an internationally renowned
theologian. Perhaps because of that, many have dismissed the
Argentinian pope as lacking in intellectual `heft.' Massimo
Borghesi's fascinating and informative study of the intellectual
influences on Pope Francis has exploded that canard, demonstrating
the intellectual breadth, subtlety and perspicacity of Francis'
thought. Borghesi helps us see that behind Pope Francis' famous
`evangelical simplicity' lies `a rich and original thought
process,' one informed by such thinkers as Amelia Podetti, Alberto
Methol Ferre, and Romano Guardini. Thanks to Borghesi we can better
appreciate the subtle and creative mind of this `simple'
pope."Richard Gaillardetz, Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic
Theology, Boston College
"Massimo Borghesi's The Mind of Pope Francis is an
exceptional intellectual biography. It's a deep dive into Latin
American philosophers and theologians—figures largely unknown to
me—who shaped the mind of the now pope. For anyone seeking an
honest understanding of who shaped and now motivates Francis, this
is a must read."
Christopher White, Crux
"An indispensable study of how Jorge Bergoglio became the
strikingly original thinker and believer who has renewed the Church
in his ministry as Pope Francis."Mollie Wilson O'Reilly, Editor at
Large, Commonweal
"Nothing so far published on the Pope's intellectual life comes
anywhere close to B.'s comprehensive and dazzling inquiry.
Theological Studies
"Reading this book, one is left with a deep sense of Pope Francis's
intellectual curiosity and aptitude, as well as his originality.
Borghesi succeeds in providing a compelling survey of the pope's
various intellectual sources, and in suggesting how they
contributed to his fundamental understanding of the world and the
church."
Commonweal
"Far from being just a set of ideas and influences, what Professor
Borghesi's magnificent study shows is a way of thinking, one that
navigates and reconciles this world's polarities and dialectic
tensions in a compellingly original way. If ever a mind reflected
the Incarnation, it is Jorge Mario Bergoglio's; and no one is
better equipped to take us on a tour of that mind than Borghesi in
this masterful translation. There is no more important or
illuminating book on Pope Francis. We will never see him the same
way again."Austen Ivereigh, Author of The Great Reformer: Francis
and the Making of a Radical Pope
"In the ever-growing literature regarding the Pope and his actions,
Borghesi's work represents a unique contribution for it explores
paths up to now left untraveled. While the breadth of his project
is so vast that the reader is left at times wanting for more
details and nuanced analyses, this book is an indispensable
resource for all those who wish to understand and engage with
Francis."
Catholic Books Review
"Massimo Borghesi has provided an indispensable resource for all
who want to understand why Pope Francis thinks the way he does.
Both erudite and scholarly, A Mind of Pope Francis reveals the
intellectual and cultural formation of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, with
the added benefit of recently recorded and highly reflective
interviews with the subject himself. Beautifully translated, this
is a vital addition to the anthology of books on this most
captivating and consequential religious leader."Kerry Alys
Robinson, Global Ambassador, Leadership Roundtable
“I would not suggest this book for refectory reading, but it is an
excellent book to use as a reference to better understand any of
the written documents of Pope Francis.”
Cistercian Studies Quarterly
"Any Catholic thinker, priest, or seminarian who wants to grasp the
intricacies of the intellectual formation of Pope Francis has to
read this book. Even the best biographies have up to now been
unable to recount the true influence of Gaston Fessard, Amelia
Podetti, and Alberto Methol Ferré. This book was hard to put down.
The interplay of the modern dialectic and classical analogy under
the rubric of Jesuit polarity is itself worthy of a small
monograph. The record is now corrected. Friends and foes can learn
for the first time the multiple and diverse strands of Latin
American, Ignatian, and European thought that the inquisitive
Bergoglio brought from the Southern Cone of his native hemisphere
to the chair of St. Peter."Peter Casarella, University of Notre
Dame
"Borghesi provides readers with the tools to enter `the dialectic
of oppositions' in Bergoglio's thought."
The Furrow
"If Massimo Borghesi's book, The Mind of Pope Francis, had been
published earlier in the pontificate it could have helped prevent
the surprisingly easy adoption of a superficial narrative depicting
the new pope as an intellectual lightweight set on undoing much of
what his predecessors had accomplished. An important and unique
contribution to the books that have been written about him." Cindy
Wooden, Chief of Rome Bureau, Catholic News Service
"This book is an in-depth study centering on Pope Francis and his
intellectual status. This book would be well worth a read for those
who seek to know more about the Pope, how he has been trained
intellectually and how he uses those capabilities today."
Catholic Press Association
"The English edition of Borghesi's work goes beyond previous books
about Pope Francis, not only by including material from private
interviews with the Holy Father, but also by opening to
English-speakers the thinking of men and women like Alberto Methol
Ferré and Amelia Podetti, philosophers from Latin America, who
deeply influenced Pope Francis and his ideas about the holy,
faithful, People of God and about listening to those at the
peripheries. The work of Borghesi is a wonderful contribution to
understanding the thinking and person of Pope Francis and to
receiving and implementing his magisterium at a time of change in
the Church and the world. It is my sincere hope that bishops,
priests, seminary professors, lay theologians and leaders will
profit greatly from this text as they carry out the important work
of the New Evangelization."Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic
Nuncio to the United States
"Borghesi's scholarship is commendable. Scholars and researchers
interested in Pope Francis's early thought will appreciate
Borghesi's meticulous book."
Publishers Weekly
"Borghesi's method of combining the whole sweep of relevant
evidence, from the most intimate testimonies of private letters to
the most public and general church documents, gives a real sense of
the dimensions here, the complexities and the variety of elements
which Pope Francis keeps in play."
Ampleforth Journal
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