The Synodal Pope

The True Story of the Theology and Politics of Pope Francis

By: Jean-Pierre Moreau

Narrated by: Kevin O'Brien

In The Synodal Pope: The True Story of the Theology and Politics of Pope Francis, Jean-Pierre Moreau traces the history and theological development of Pope Francis from his upbringing in Argentina and formation by the liberationist Jesuits. Moreau, a keen observer of liberation theology, many of whose leading figures he personally met when he was a special correspondent for the Figaro-Magazine in the 1980s, has made a close study of the personal and intellectual itinerary of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, described by his closest supporters as professing the “theology of the people.” This particular focus on “the people” has theological and political underpinnings that many modern commentators do not grasp fully. It lies at the heart of understanding the Synod on Synodality.

This is why Pope Francis puts so much emphasis on the “signs of the times” and on history. These are the new tools at the service of a doctrine that is inherently evolutionary. This book sheds light on the “real Bergoglio” and the real influences behind him. It is anything but a catalogue of trivia about Pope Francis’s “governance”: rather, it shows his deep-rooted coherence and true affiliations (which go back further than is generally imagined), and more importantly, it reveals the truly revolutionary nature of his idea of “synodality.” If you want to understand this term from its genesis, this book is a must-listen.

©2023 TAN Books (P)2024 TAN Books

Very unwell man with axe to grind writes polemic

This book is an anti-Christian, anti-poor polemic that has no pretense to being unbiased, but rather sets it's sights to undermining the catholic church hierarchy and it's authority, divide the body of Christ against itself, and blaspheme against it's mission. It was written by a clearly spiritually unwell man who sees nothing but spies and enemies under every bed and behind every curtain. There's barely a moment where he says something that doesn't translate to "I feel threatened and will use calumny and lies to pit Christians against the church and each other". The level of paranoia and malice is really quite total, and his commitment to distorting the facts so as to force his paranoid visions is a sign and recipe for mental and spiritual sickness. This staggering lack of responsibility to truth and lack of integrity with the gospel also results in a book that's almost useless for it's intended purpose. It's a hit job painted in one color (red, and the author sees nothing but red), not a book where you can learn something. The book is unselfconsciously transparent around it's fear of and hostility to the poor and the third world, projecting these social fears onto fabrications of nefarious conspiracy in church leadership. It literally makes no effort to anything like balance or objectivity or edification, instead aiming to scare the reader so as to persuade and deceive.

In summary: a book from a spiritually sick and very paranoid anti-catholic conspiracy theorist who's aim is pretty unambiguously to undermine confidence in Catholic church leadership and authority, and to divide Catholic against church, and Christian against Christian. There is no attempt at objectivity or unbiased presentation in this book, it's explicitly a polemic and not a scholarly book aiming at edification.