Fr. Mark Francis, CSV, the former superior general of the Viatorians and current president of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, was quoted in a recent Chicago Tribune article on the upcoming publication of a book of essays by Pope Francis, called The Church of Mercy.
The relatively small Loyola Press beat out some of the nation’s top publishers for the rights to print the translation of the Pope’s speeches and essays since his election.
Fr. Francis said that while books by the former Pope Benedict were popular, he expects those featuring the thoughts and words of Pope Francis to have a wider appeal.
“This pope speaks and communicates in a very informal kind of way, a very accessible way to the average person,” Fr. Francis said.
“It allows people to get a more full understanding of his thought on a given topic,” he added. “It’s worthwhile. He’s one of the first popes, in my estimation, who is able to speak in concise sentences. … He’s pastoral. He knows what’s going to stick in people’s minds.”
Fr. Francis also was quoted in a Chicago Sun-Times article that interviewed Chicago area Catholics in advance of Pope Francis’ one-year anniversary.
“I hear that there’s much more enthusiasm on the part of young people in terms of what the pope is saying and standing for,” Fr. Franci said. “He’s a pope that talks about what we are for and not what we are against. I think that that positive note is very helpful.”
Read the full version of the Chicago Tribune article, here. For a complete version of the Chicago Sun-Times story, click here.