Bergoglio's List (Saint Benedict Press)

From the period of 1976 to 1983, Argentina was a place undergoing political turmoil. It was known as "The Dirty War." Peron had just been deposed and the military took control of the government. It was a horrendous time and place to live, and that is putting it mildly. People were abducted, tortured, and murdered. Pregnant women gave birth to babies that were ripped from their arms. The babies were given to military families, and the mothers were killed. At least 30,000 people were murdered, and the world turned a blind eye to Argentina by and large. To make matters worse, people within Argentina (including some clergy of the Church) did the same or worse, assisted in the murder of these people. Not all in the Church were guilty. Some brave priests, bishops, religious, and laity did their part, either in secret or the open, to save as many people as they could. Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) was one of those priests who did what was right by defying the military government and helping people escape. The book Bergoglio's List highlights the stories of some of those who lived because of him.

The first three chapters of the book provide a mini-history of life during the Dirty War. In addition to detailing some of the general atrocities I listed above, we also learn about a few specific ones as well. For example, Alfredo Astiz lived among the Argentine people and pretended to be their friend. He was known as El Rubito or "the blonde guy." He was actually working for the military government and was giving the government information on who needed to be targeted and killed. The next ten chapters focuses on the stories of specific people that Bergoglio helped save. They were priests, scholars, unionists, Marxists, married couples, etc. The background or affiliation did not matter to Bergoglio. These were human lives, and everyone of them was precious.

I found myself struggling to read this book, particularly the early parts. After almost every chapter, I had to set the book down and step away from it, because it was a harsh reality to accept that things like this occurred not so long ago, and unbeknownst to me, probably still do. The firsthand accounts of people who were saved were tough as well. You knew they were going to escape, but you still feared for them as you read their stories. This is a book that you not only should read, but have to read. It shows us that ordinary people can do extraordinary things and that one person can make a difference. It also shows us firsthand the kind of man and leader our pope is.

This book was provided to me for free by Saint Benedict Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

The Way of Humility and Education for Choosing Life (Ignatius Press)

It's a double Bergoglio book review kind of day here at Stuart's Study. Ignatius Press has recently released two books by Pope Francis (then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio), entitled The Way of Humility and Education for Choosing Life. I was fortunate enough to be granted review copies of each of them. My initial thoughts are, "Where have these writings been all this time?" It's a shame that his words were not translated and printed when he was still a Cardinal, but I am eternally grateful they are available now, and I will continue to enjoy them and read them as long as they keep printing them.

The Way of Humility is a 100-page book, which contains meditations from Cardinal Bergoglio dating back to 2005. It is divided into two parts with the first part addressing the topics of Corruption and Sin and the second part addressing self-accusation. Each part consists a series of mini-meditations that span 2-3 pages and contain sub-topics of the larger topic. For example, there is a meditation on Making Comparisons in the larger topic of Corruption.

In the first part, Corruption and Sin, Cardinal Bergoglio begins by defining what corruption is and distinguishing it from sin. He states that one can be sinful without being corrupt, but that sin can eventually lead to corruption. He also explains characteristics of corruption, like self-containment and ignorance of one's own corruption. Using a very blunt and easily understood metaphor, he states, "Corrupt people do not notice their own corruption. It is the same as when people have bad breath: they seldom realize it themselves. Other people smell it and need to tell them." He then goes on to explain about comparisons and judgment. Using examples from the New Testament like the Publican and the Pharisee, we see how the Pharisee used both comparison and judgment and can see that this was not just a one-time sin, but a heart that had been corrupted. I found his meditation on the corruption of the four groups of Jewish people in Jesus' day to be the most fascinating section of this part. In these brief pages, he brought to light how the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and even the Essenes had some form of corruption in their heart.

In the second part, On Self Accusation, Cardinal Bergoglio draws from reflections of St. Dorotheus of Gaza to illustrate his point. The meditations state that "Self-accusation requires uncommon courage in order to open the door to discovery of things we do not know about ourselves and let other people see beyond our facade." He also stresses that self-accusation calls us to a communal way of life and not an individual one. He also states that self-accusation is an act of humiliation that leads to humility. Cardinal Bergoglio then includes direct instructions from St. Dorotheus for the remainder of the text. Though, this second part of the book seems more geared to religious, there is definitely truth in here for laity as well. Overall, this was a thought-provoking and soul-examining book. If you are looking to become humbler, read what Cardinal Bergoglio has to say.

Education for Choosing Life is a series of messages given by Cardinal Bergoglio to educators in Argentina. One can clearly see this in the personal message he has for them about the recent "suffering, confusion, and indignation," they had suffered. However, just because the talk is geared towards a certain group of people doesn't make the message any less valid for a wider audience, particularly educators worldwide.

There are three main messages in this book. The first message is that teaching is an act of hope. In this first message, he proposes four things to teachers - 1. Speak the truth, 2. Align with the Christian value of fraternal solidarity, 3. Look for the best in schools, and 4. Propose models of life to the students. The second message is to be a country that educates students. By this he doesn't mean just making them useful citizens, cogs in the big machine of industry. No, he wants teachers to educate students who will transform the country and the world! The third and final message focuses on raising mature people. By doing this past mistakes can hopefully be avoided and a better society can be built. Apart from these three main messages, one can see a clear unifying theme of life and what it means to be human in this book. Cardinal Bergoglio wants to raise a generation of Catholic youth who will love the world and change the world for the better.

This is an excellent book for principals, teachers, catechists, parents, or anyone involved with educating the next generation. As I said earlier, the message may have been delivered to a specific set of people, but it is timeless and rings true no matter where you are in the world. What I found most helpful was that each chapter ended with prayers, reflections and questions to spur us to action. The reader can reflect on these solo or in a group, so if you choose to buy this book, buy two - one for you and another for a colleague. It might just be the spark that helps set the world on fire for Christ. May we all strive to instill in ourselves and the youth the love of Christ that alone can transform the world!

These books were provided to me for free by Ignatius Press. If you found the reviews helpful click here and/or here and hit Yes!