Pope Francis, In His Own Words
The late pontiff’s autobiography provides a rare window into the inner and outer life of a beloved and complicated man.
This article is adapted from AQ’s forthcoming special report on Guatemala. In 1927, Giovanni Angelo Bergoglio, an Italian peasant turned shopkeeper, bought a ticket for himself, his wife and his son to Argentina, aboard the SS Principessa Mafalda. That voyage from Genoa would end in tragedy off the coast of Brazil, when the Principessa Mafalda sank, killing hundreds, in a disaster that would see the ship referred to as the “Italian Titanic.” But the Bergoglios—the grandparents and father of the man who became Pope Francis—were not aboard. At the last minute, they opted to...
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