Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Memoirs

PILGRIMAGE

Mark Shriver

My Search for the Real Pope Francis

PILGRIMAGE: My Search for the Real Pope Francis, by Mark Shriver is a down-to-earth and deeply intimate portrait of the Pope and his faith draws directly from rare interviews with the men and women who knew him simply as Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis on March 13th, 2013, Mark Shriver found himself fascinated with this humble, charismatic, and authentic leader. What led this Argentine to become a priest? What struggles had shaped him? And what could his past tell us about his plans for the future of the Catholic Church? Mark Shriver was brought up as a Catholic—both his father, Sargent Shriver, and his mother, Eunice Kennedy, were faithful Catholics—but he had long since grown disillusioned with the Church. Watching Pope Francis, though, Shriver was intrigued. Would this pope put the Catholic Church on a new path? What would that mean for Catholics around the world?
Sparked by a renewed sense of faith (as well as personal curiosity), Shriver traveled to Buenos Aires, where Bergoglio was born, to meet with the men and women who remembered him as a child, as a young man and Jesuit priest, and later as a Bishop. Shriver traces Bergoglio’s steps from the confessional where he first felt called to religious life, to his first humble parish—a converted vegetable shed deep in the barrios of Buenos Aires—and through his exile in Cordoba, where he was effectively cut off by the Jesuit Provincial for two years.

Scheduled for publication to coincide with Pope Francis’ 80th birthday on December 17th, PILGRIMAGE is a compelling volume that presents new and revealing insight into the life of one of the most talked-about men in the world. Through conversations with the cartoneros, rabbis, priests and simple men and women who still recall him with great fondness, Shriver shows how Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis—and how humility, dedication and mercy have always been at the heart of his faith.

Mark K. Shriver leads Save the Children's U.S. Programs, which works to ensure a fair start for all kids in the United States, including the one in five living in poverty. Mark Shriver was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1994 to 2002. He was the first Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Youth and Families, and was appointed Chair of the Children and Youth Subcommittee of Maryland's House Ways and Means Committee. Shriver has been widely covered and published in the national media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Washington Times, Newsweek, NPR, CNN, The Today Show, Fox News, ABC News and Time. Shriver received his B.A. from The College of the Holy Cross in 1986 and a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1993. In 1994, he received an honorary degree from Loyola College in Baltimore, MD for his work on The Choice Program. Shriver resides in Bethesda, MD with his wife Jeanne and their three young children, Molly, Tommy and Emma.

Available products
Book Published 2016-11-29 by Random House
Book Published 2016-11-29 by Random House

Comments

“With a seeker’s enthusiasm, Mark K. Shriver has revealed perhaps the pope’s greatest gift: Shriver’s deep faith seems reignited through the example of this unique leader.” —David Gregory, journalist and author of How’s Your Faith?

Mark K. Shriver takes us along on his quest to understand one of the most interesting men of this century. While the book traces the various facets of Pope Francis’s development—his family life, education, spiritual formation, cultural tensions, and personal conversion—it makes us explore our own depths and encounters with change. It is a great read. By all means, don’t miss this one.

A deeply affecting and tender-hearted portrait of Pope Francis. What begins as a quest to know this man, ends as a sublime love letter to all that matters in life. This book is good company.

Brazil: Bestseller/ Record

This fast-paced and fascinating tale takes us on Jorge Bergoglio’s pilgrimage from his grandmother’s knee in the Italian-Argentine community, through years of success and sorrow in the tumultuous country that he loved, to his surprise election as Pope Francis. Mark K. Shriver finds himself on his own pilgrimage as he comes to understand the role of the Society of Jesus—the Jesuits—in shaping the charismatic pontiff. Then, with smart subtlety, Shriver shows how the fundamental fact of faith makes pilgrims of us all.

“Pope Francis has revitalized the faith of millions of people around the world. Shriver’s journey to better understand Francis will fascinate and inspire you, regardless of your own beliefs. He travels to Argentina and Italy and meets some of the people who served alongside the pope. His book shows us that we all, rich or poor, Christian or non-Christian, can make a difference in the world.” —Bishop T. D. Jakes

A beautifully written, deeply researched, and engagingly personal take on one of the most compelling figures of our time--of any time. Mark K. Shriver takes on a fascinating journey to the places, people and times that shaped Jorge Mario Bergoglio. And he convincingly shows how a humble man could be named a cardinal, and finally, be elected pope.

One American’s quest to grasp the essence of what makes Francis tick becomes a compelling journey into new depths within the author’s soul. In Argentina, Shriver meets all the right people, and as they open up to him, Francis gradually shifts into focus. Funny, wise, insightful, and skillfully penned, Pilgrimage deserves to be ranked among the best books on the greatest leader of our age. I really enjoyed it.

This is a book for the man in the street who wants to know, ‘Who is this pope? Where did he come from?’ And who wants to learn this not from a theologian writing for other theologians, but in everyday language from an everyday point of view. Compelled by his own burning curiosity, Mark K. Shriver travels to Argentina, Rome, and elsewhere to talk with the pope’s family, former students, parishioners, and longtime associates. This book lets you travel with him.

Mark K. Shriver’s biography captures the Pope’s little gestures as well as the major movements of his life. Shriver offers an everyman perspective, the person in the pew searching for solace in a Church at times undermined by scandal and deemed irrelevant by many. Shriver invites the reader into his personal journey while recounting the journey of the man who told Jesuit seminarians “to get into the barrio and walk in it.” We walk with both Pope Francis and Shriver in this masterful and moving work.

Shriver has offered us a fresh and compelling glimpse into the life of Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, weaving threads of Argentina’s contentious history alongside the compelling spirituality of the Jesuits. The reader gains fascinating insights into the development of the strong and compassionate character of Pope Francis. Mark has offered something new and poignant in his quest for the real Pope Francis.

This fast-paced and fascinating tale takes us on Jorge Bergoglio’s pilgrimage from his grandmother’s knee in the Italian-Argentine community, through years of success and sorrow in the tumultuous country that he loved, to his surprise election as Pope Francis. Mark K. Shriver finds himself on his own pilgrimage as he comes to understand the role of the Society of Jesus—the Jesuits—in shaping the charismatic pontiff. Then, with smart subtlety, Shriver shows how the fundamental fact of faith makes pilgrims of us all.

Pope Francis says that people’s stories are more important than theories. Pilgrimage is a treasure trove of real people’s reflections on their relationship with ‘Jorge’ and the author’s journey into his own faith. This book is a challenge to all of us to risk living inclusive love.

To date, the significant biographies of Francis—including Elisabetta Piqué’sLife and Revolution, Austen Ivereigh’sThe Great Reformer, and Paul Vallely’sUntying the Knots—have been written by Latin American or British authors, leaving a space for Shriver to add the democratic, liberal, and personal perspectives of American Catholicism to the pope’s story… In this excellent book, Shriver takes readers on a pilgrimage to numerous significant people and places in the life of Pope Francis.