With summer just around the corner, Inside the Vatican is bringing you a special episode: our Pope Francis summer reading list.

Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh joins Colleen Dulle for a discussion on three books that have shaped Pope Francis (and that he loves to quote): The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni, Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson, and the short story “The Garden of Forking Paths” by Pope Francis’ fellow Argentine, Jorge Luis Borges. Colleen and Austen discuss each work and Pope Francis’ connection to it, and how they’ve influenced the pope’s thinking.

Want to discuss these books with other Inside the Vatican listeners? Join the Catholic Book Club Facebook group, where there will be a special post for discussions of this episode!

Links from the show:

Austen Ivereigh: The Pope & the Plague

Austen Ivereigh: An Interview with Pope Francis

The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni

Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson

“The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borges

“Calle Desconocida” (“Unknown Street”) by Jorge Luis Borges

Let Us Dream by Pope Francis and Austen Ivereigh

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