Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church
By Austin Ivereigh
Henry Holt and Company, 2019, 401 pp.
When cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected to the papacy in 2013, conservative Catholics did not know what they were in for. However, by 2016 it was crystal clear that Bergoglio was on a mission to steer the Roman Catholic church towards a progressive/liberal ideology. In that year, pope Francis guilefully overturned the ban on communion to remarried divorcees via a couple of footnotes in his “Amoris Laetitia” encyclical, and conservative opposition to Francis has been on the rise ever since.
Books critical of pope Francis by Catholic authors began appearing in late 2017 and have continued to be published. See here for details. There is disappointment and frustration with Francis among some conservatives that borders on outright rebellion. Discussions of schism are held in check by hopes that the next pope returns the church to pope John Paul II-style conservatism.
British journalist, Austin Ivereigh, answers Francis’ conservative critics with this very flattering apologia of the current pope. The problem, according to the author, is not Francis’ attempts to make the church more relevant, “pastoral,” and appealing in an era of rising secularism and an increasingly disaffected membership, but, rather, the problem is the intransigence of rigid conservative Catholics who are rooted in “clericalism” and doctrinalism at the expense of compassion and mercy.
In this book, Ivereigh covers all of the sturm und drang of Francis’ controversial papacy, including such topics as…
- The fight with conservatives over control of the Order of Malta
- The ongoing Vatican Bank financial scandals
- Reform of the corrupt Vatican Curia
- The ongoing clerical sexual abuse scandal including Francis embarrassing mishandling of the situation in Chile in early-2018.
- How Francis is adapting the “Aparecida” movement (focus on the poor, social justice, etc.) of Latin American Catholicism to the entire church.
- Francis’ elevation of environmental concerns and climate change to the forefront.
- The “Amoris Laetitia” controversy including the dubia sent to the pope by the resistant right-wing cardinals.
- Francis’ method to orchestrate liberal change through synods rather than by papal decree.
One of the greatest ironies of our era is watching conservative Catholics line up in opposition to their own pope!
This book will give the reader a good understanding of the pro-Francis progressive viewpoint in this ongoing feud between liberal and conservative Catholics. Except for a brief account of Francis’ bumbling accommodations to Argentina’s murderous dictatorship as head of the country’s Jesuit order in the 1970s, the pope is portrayed with embarrassing adulation. This book reminded me, no exaggeration, of the fawning Catholic saint hagiographies of yesteryear.
Please keep in mind that neither the conservative Catholic doctrinalists or Francis and his progressive allies proclaim the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. I would recommend this puff piece only to serious evangelical Vatican-watchers who are interested in the current internecine tug-of-war within Catholicism.
Postscript: Here’s a question for Catholics regarding the title of this book, Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church: The Roman Catholic church boasts that it is the “one, true church” and that it is Semper eadem, always the same. Why then is pope Francis trying to convert it?
Hi brother if I was a Catholic I’d be like this pope is a heretic burn him at the stake I mean they did that centuries ago but I’m not a Catholic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, Francis is really shaking things up. The average Catholic in the pew isn’t aware of turmoil and wouldn’t care if someone informed them but the hard-core conservative Catholics who take their works religion seriously are greatly stressed by Francis.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes the pope is something alright.
LikeLiked by 1 person
👍🏻
LikeLike
Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for stopping by, Bonnie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always love it when you review books related to RC across the theological spectrum, beginning to think your site is the top reviewer of books on RC!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, brother! The increasing tension between conservative Catholics and pope Francis and his progressive allies is an amazing story.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah they are getting their ways being shown problematic before a watching world
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yup, Catholicism is debunking its own claims in front of the world.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Totally
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow this book attempts to defend the pope…wonder if any Conservative Catholics answered this book
LikeLiked by 2 people
There’ve been so many anti-Francis books written by Catholic conservatives, I’m thinking the progressives were motivated to put a book out there defending him. This book is embarrassingly complimentary. The credulous reader might conclude that Francis is one of the greatest human beings who has ever lived, no exaggeration. Good question. I’m going to have to google around to see if there’s any conservative reaction to this puff piece.
LikeLiked by 2 people
As complimentary as it is I’m sure these liberals forget the elephant in the room of the pope leading a worldwide institution that has enabled abuses and cover up
LikeLiked by 1 person
The author spins the abuse problem to Francis’ advantage. He states that the abuse was a symptom of clericalism; the clergy seeing themselves as a privileged and entitled class rather than as servants. Of course, Francis is presented as the #1 crusader against clericalism. I was a bit puzzled by the title of the book, “Wounded Shepherd,” but the meaning became clear in the text. The author’s argument is that Francis’ (few) flaws (e.g., cooperation with Argentine dictators in the 70s, his bungling of the abuse situation in Chile in 2018) render him a “wounded” shepherd, a leader who has made mistakes and learned from them. Of course, the author notes that Francis has also been “wounded” by the misguided attacks of the conservative doctrinalists. The “wounded shepherd” title is a ham-fisted attempt to connect Francis with THE wounded Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
LikeLiked by 1 person
He’s no wounded shepherd. Seeing videos of him gives me the creeps
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, beneath the smiling facade he’s a cunning pragmatist who will do whatever it takes to stanch the exodus of the RCC membership.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah
LikeLiked by 1 person