His likable, spontaneous, unguarded manner has drawn both estranged Catholics and even non-Catholics to take a closer look at the Catholic Church. He has also puzzled and even outraged the faithful who listened uncritically to the media’s interpretation of Pope Francis’s off-the-cuff commentary on hot-button issues such as abortion, marriage, divorce, the environment, immigration, and a host of other issues. Meanwhile, younger Catholics aren’t analyzing him. They are simply gazing with him at Jesus Christ. In What Pope Francis Really Said, nationally respected Catholic journalist Tom Hoopes explores how Pope Francis is bringing the Catholic Church to bear on a dramatically changing world, not by altering its teachings but by applying enduring truths to new realities in fresh ways. This book takes up the primary themes of the first three years of the pontificate and challenges American Catholics to see the pope and his teachings as a pathway to personal renewal.
Tom Hoopes is Writer in Residence and Vice President of College Relations at Benedictine College, where he teaches in the Journalism and Mass Communication Department. He writes weekly for the National Catholic Register and Aleteia, reaching a national and international audience. His work has also appeared in Catholic Digest, Columbia magazine, Crisis magazine and First Things online.