Catholics around the world will soon have the chance to read Pope Francis’ deeply personal reflections on the saint who inspired his pontificate. A new posthumous book, Il mio San Francesco (My St Francis), will be released in Italian bookstores on September 18, bringing together a late 2024 conversation between Pope Francis and Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
According to Vatican News, Cardinal Semeraro presented the book in Assisi on September 10 during the “Courtyard of Francis” event, recalling his close collaboration with the late pope since being appointed Prefect in 2020. The volume also features a letter from Pope Leo XIV and a preface by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who calls the text “almost his ‘spiritual testament,’ made of living memories and thanksgiving.”
In this unique dialogue, Pope Francis reflects on how St. Francis shaped his spiritual vision, especially in areas of creation, peace, and fraternity. “When I think of the prayer of St Francis, I think of his tears, his cries,” Francis said. “For him, prayer had a deeply affective dimension… His relationship with Jesus was not an idea or theory, but a bond of passion and love,” according to Vatican News.
The late pope also admitted to feeling the struggle of faith amidst duty: “I too, at times feel the fatigue of many, of being faithful to prayer when there is so much to do. I have learned to treasure even short moments, small spaces… Ordinary life becomes special if we let it be illuminated by the light that comes from prayer.”
In his letter introducing the book, Pope Leo XIV wrote that the text “allows us almost to hear again the voice of Pope Francis. In these conversations, he shows that the name of Francis was not only assumed but lived, shaping the face of his mission,” according to Vatican News.
For the faithful, this new book is more than a publication, it is an invitation to walk with Pope Francis one last time as he contemplates the saint who changed his life and inspired his papacy.
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