Q&A: Elisabetta Piqué, Author of Pope Francis: Life and Revolution

Shelf Awareness asked four questions of Elisabetta Piqué, the Argentinian journalist who is a friend of the Pope, covers the Vatican and is author of Pope Francis: Life and Revolution, a biography published by Loyola Press.

You knew Padre Jorge for many years as a family friend. How has he changed since he became Pope Francis?

On a personal level, he has not changed. He remains the same humble, kind, thoughtful, open, and very humorous person that I have always known. He continues to live a very simple life and is always open to meeting people. He remains in contact with many who were his friends in Buenos Aires. He is a person who likes to be with people, and especially with "the nobodies" of this world. He smiles now like he used do when, as archbishop, he visited the shanty towns in Buenos Aires. He was always a deeply spiritual man, and enjoys great inner peace, and that is so evident today.   

What is it like traveling with the Pope?

It’s a real privilege. At the beginning of the trip he comes and greets each of the journalists accompanying him and is willing to chat or have a selfie taken with those who ask.  All the journalists really appreciate this. When he greets me and my husband he always asks about our children, whom he knows well. I usually give him a kiss, as that is the normal thing to do in Argentina.   

On the return flight home, he gives a press conference, where we reporters can ask whatever we want. He's generous with his time, and on the long trips he gives an hour-long press conference. He tells us really what he thinks about different situations or problems. He’s a master at communication, and is very able at navigating problematic questions.

What is the most unexpected thing that Pope Francis has done since his election?

He has done many unexpected things. For example, there is his decision not to live in the Apostolic Palace, his embrace of the badly disfigured man, his phoning people directly, his decision to hold a synod on the family in two stages, his nomination of cardinals from the peripheries, and much else. In a word, he has changed the style of the papacy; he is pioneering a new way of being pope.

What will readers discover about Pope Francis when they read your book?

My biography will help people understand better the man who is the Pope. It will give them a deeper insight into his character and personality, and it will bring them into contact with the people who inspired and shaped him. Today we see him doing many extraordinary things that people greatly admire, but my book will help them understand that he has always been acting in this way in Buenos Aires, though few noticed it then. My book brings out the human, personal side of the man who is now Pope. I have written about the man I know.

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