The Name of God is Mercy

Pope Francis's chatty tone, his repeated references to episodes in his own life and his clear, down-to-earth language, so rarely found in papal pronouncements, make The Name of God Is Mercy a pleasure to read. * The Guardian *
Francis offers the most vivid glimpse yet of this thinking on the struggles facing the Church in the 21st Century * Sunday Telegraph *
This gift for teaching - along with his inclusive vision of the world, and his warm, embracing manner - have been hallmarks of the pope's whirlwind tenure thus far in the Vatican, and they also inform his new book, The Name of God Is Mercy * The New York Times *
What makes his book most moving is the way in which this man, without disrespecting his own privacy or offering false bromides of modesty (what Douthat derides as "ostentatious humility"), opens the sacred space of his conscience to explain how he came to center his ministry, and now his papacy, around mercy. * The New Yorker *
Francis speaks succinctly-and with refreshing forthrightness. . . . He emphasizes moral sincerity over dogma, an understanding of the complexities of the world and individual experience over rigid doctrine. . . . The pope has an easy conversational style that moves effortlessly between folksy sayings and erudite allusions, between common-sense logic and impassioned philosophical insights -- Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
As he has done throughout his papacy, Pope Francis shows in this book a compelling way to present God's love anew to a skeptical world without denying the ancient teachings of faith. But now he is challenging the entire Church to trek a new way forward -- Time
Francis enjoys sharing personal stories of God's grace and mercy in the lives of parishioners from his native Argentina, people he has known and who have recognized themselves as sinners -- The Washington Post
Powerful . . . Francis's book signals a plea for a change of attitude on the part of the faithful and their pastors. . . . Bishops and priests will talk and quarrel over the text for months, even years to come. And that, perhaps, is what Francis intends -- Financial Times