Brian Y. LEE and Thomas L. KNOEBEL. Discovering Pope Francis: The Roots of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Thinking. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press Academic, 2019. xx + 251 pages. Softcover: $29.95. ISBN: 978-08-146-8504-4. Reviewed by Ryan MARR, National Institute for Newman Studies, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

            Pope Francis has been a polarizing figure in the American Catholic context. Certainly, various reasons could be pointed to as explanations for this phenomenon, but few would dispute that it has been a dynamic of the U.S. Catholic experience over the past several years. This collection of essays, edited by Lee and Knoebel, seeks to move beyond polarized conversations about the pope in order to treat him as a “serious intellectual” (7). In this respect, the various contributors appear united in the conviction, expressed by Peter Casarella on page 179, that, “The abiding polarizations [in the US ecclesial context] … threaten to make it impossible to get a clear vision of Pope Francis’s pontificate.” By transcending “political receptions of the pope,” the book seeks to introduce readers to “the roots of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s thinking” for the sake of better understanding the agenda of his pontificate.

            As to this specific goal, the book succeeds splendidly. Each contributor analyzes the pope’s thought from a different angle, the composite result of which is a textured picture of Francis’s theological outlook. Among the topics covered in the collection are Bergoglio’s vision for evangelization (ch. 2), the influence of Henri de Lubac on his ecclesiology (ch. 7), and the key principles that undergird his understanding of ecclesial life (ch. 4): i.e., unity is more important than division, time is greater than space, realities are more important than ideas, and the whole is greater than the part. The book will prove particularly helpful for those seeking a better grasp of the sources that inform Pope Francis’s theology. Besides the study of de Lubac in chapter 7, there are also chapters on how Bergoglio has been influenced by the writings of Romano Guardini, Gaston Fessard, and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Considering what is presently available to scholars, this title is arguably the single most helpful work for understanding the sources of Pope Francis’s theological outlook.

            When Pope Benedict XVI published his Jesus of Nazareth trilogy, he was keen to point out that those books were “in no way an exercise of the magisterium,” but were offered as personal reflections written from his status as a trained theologian (vol. 1, xxiii). This distinction is an important one, particularly in our time when there is a great deal of confusion around the nature and limits of papal authority. One of the strengths of Discovering Pope Francis is that its contributors conduct their analysis with this distinction in view. The primary focus herein is on Pope Francis’s personal theological commitments, which is an approach that helps open up space for readers to think critically about the strengths and weaknesses of his positions without having to worry about contravening papal authority. It goes without saying perhaps, but Catholics are free to test and even criticize the theology of the current occupier of the See of Rome. Doing so charitably, in fact, could be one way of demystifying the papal office. While there are occasions when the pope can speak infallibly, in his capacity as a theologian he is fallible. Works like Discovering Pope Francis help us to recognize this distinction and, thus, to avoid conflating private judgments of a given pope with official exercises of the magisterium.

            With the above in view, one way this book might have been strengthened would have been to include a couple essays that offered respectful, constructive critiques of Bergoglio’s theology. As it stands, the volume is made up solely of voices strongly supportive of his outlook. By bringing together a more diverse range of contributors, the editors could have modeled “Bergogilio’s doctrine of polarity,” praised by Massimo Borghesi in chapter five (100ff.). According to Borghesi, this approach values “a unity that does not annul differences or reduce conflict” (101). If that is the case, then it seems like it would have been worthwhile to invite contributors who were willing to challenge certain facets of Bergoglio’s thinking. A book that speaks a great deal of overcoming polarization and of fostering unity in diversity could have provided a real service by modeling what these efforts look like in practice. This minor shortcoming aside, Discovering Pope Francis makes a strong contribution to the field and is certain to be an important reference point for future conversations about Pope Francis.