pope Francis

“Each of us must ask himself if there are horizons in his life. Are there horizons? Many times, it happens that people cannot see them. And they feel a little bad because they do not observe, do not know how to look and search for those horizons. Observing the horizons of life, in this way, means looking at hope.”

Pope Francis

“Pope Francis really makes you feel like a person. He’s the Pope, of course. At the beginning there is a sense of expectation, the same as I felt as a child, the first time I met one of St. Peter’s successors. But then, without you even realising it, he makes you feel like an equal, with the understanding and authenticity of a man who loves you, and that’s all: he simply loves you, just as you are.”

Davide Banzato

If you suddenly had an unexpected opportunity to spend some time face to face with the Pope, what would you ask him?

This was the extraordinary experience of Davide Banzato, described in the pages of this book. In the Vatican for his television programme I viaggi del cuore, Father Davide never thought he would get a unique opportunity to chat with the Pope and ask him the questions that he, like many of us, had been wondering about. The result is a sincere, spontaneous dialogue, but also an enlightening reflection between a priest who has not been afraid to take risks, with a life full of light and shadows, and a Pope of great wisdom and, above all, unbounded humanity. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the papal ministry of Pope Francis, the Holy Father answered ten questions, in a discussion addressing existential and highly relevant issues: from solitude to indifference, from the crisis in faith to peace of the heart, from fear to poverty. All enriched with personal anecdotes and reflections on the times we live in, on the Pope’s documents and speeches, on burning issues such as abuse, war and economic crisis, in a discussion that speaks to everyone. Thus the Pope’s words take us on a true “voyage of the heart”: an intense walk, with obstacles and dark places of its own, but capable of showing us that it is always possible for each of us to cast the anchor of hope in the midst of the storm, to open a window and look out at the horizon of a more serene future.

Pope Francis

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born in Buenos Aires in 1936, became the 266th Pope of the Catholic church on 13 March 2013. He chose the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, “a man of poverty, a man of peace”. Piemme also published his books Il nome di Dio è Misericordia. Una conversazione con Andrea Tornielli (2016, translated into 100 languages, published in English under the title The Name of God is Mercy), Dio è giovane (2018, published in English as God is Young), Ritorniamo a sognare (2020, published in English as Let us Dream) and Vi chiedo in nome di Dio (2022). And in the Battello a Vapore series: Laudato si’. L’enciclica raccontata ai ragazzi, Le più belle storie del Vangelo and A come Amore, B come Bambino.

Davide Banzato

Born in Padua in 1981, Father Banzato works with disadvantaged youth in Nuovi Orizzonti, the community founded by Chiara Amirante. He writes for a number of newspapers, presents the television programme I viaggi del cuore for broadcaster Mediaset, and has appeared in a series commenting on the gospels on Rai1 as well as a number of radio broadcasts. Piemme published his bestseller Tutto ma prete mai (2021).

Marina Berlusconi, chairman of the Mondadori Group, today, at the Casa Santa Marta, presented Pope Francis with the first copy of the Italian edition of the book-length interview with the Holy Father entitled Il nome di Dio è Misericordia (The Name of God is Mercy). A conversation with Andrea Tornielli – published by Piemme, together with some examples of the main editions of the book to be published tomorrow in some 86 countries around the world.

Present at the meeting, along with the journalist Andrea Tornielli, were Ernesto Mauri, chief executive officer of the Mondadori Group, Enrico Selva Coddè, managing director of Mondadori Libri, and other representatives from Mondadori and Piemme. Also present were Monsignor Giuseppe Costa (director of Libreria Editrice Vaticana), Zhang Agostino Jianquing (an inmate of Padua prison who in April 2015 received the sacraments of baptism, communion and confirmation) and Roberto Benigni, who will take part tomorrow in the presentation of the book at 11 am at the Istituto Patristico Augustinianum; which will also be attended by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, and Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office.

For the first time in a book-interview, Pope Francis addresses all men and women across the globe in a simple, intimate and direct dialogue. The Holy Father examines the theme of mercy, which is so central to his teaching and his personal experience as a man, a priest and pastor. Indeed, the book is a summary of both his teaching and his papacy and His Holiness wanted to inscribe the cover of the Italian, English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese editions of book personally.

Andrea Tornielli, a Vatican specialist and journalist for La Stampa, is also responsible for the Vatican Insider web site and contributes to a number of international magazines. He is the author of many books, in particular the first biography of the Pope, entitled, Francis. Pope of a New World (2013), and This Economy Kills: Pope Francis on Capitalism and Social Justice, which have been translated into 16 and 9 languages, respectively.

Its title will be The name of God is Mercy and it will be published worldwide in January 2016 on the occasion of the Jubilee. The Italian publisher is Piemme, which has world rights.

In a conversation with the Vatican expert Andrea Tornielli, Pope Francis discloses the core of his papacy and, in his simple and straight words, conveys the great message of the Holy Year of Mercy.

For the first time, in a book interview signed by himself, Pope Francis addresses each woman and each man on Earth in a deep, simple and intimate dialogue. Through his own experience as a priest and shepherd, the pope talks about Mercy, a subject of central importance in his teaching and testimony. He explains the reasons for this extraordinary Holy Year that he has so strongly promoted, and in doing so he speaks to all the souls – inside and outside the Church – who are looking for a meaning in life, for a road to peace and reconciliation, for a healing to their physical and spiritual wounds. It is the summing up of his teachings and papacy.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio Born in Buenos Aires the 17th of December 1936, since the 13th of March 2013 he is the Bishop of Rome and the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. On the 13th of March 2015 he decided to give a decisive turn to his papacy by announcing the Holy Year of Mercy that will begin on December 8th 2015 and will end on November 20th 2016.

Andrea Tornielli Vatican expert, journalist at the newspaper La stampa and responsible for the website Vatican Insider, he collaborates with several Italian and international newspapers. He has written many books, among which the first biography of the Pope, Francis. Together (2013), translated into 16 languages, and Pope Francis. This economy kills, translated into 9 languages.

[Photo credits: MONDADORI PORTFOLIO/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Grzegorz Galazka]