Prior to being elected Pope, Jorge Bergoglio was a highly sought-after spiritual director in his home country of Argentina. And throughout his papacy, he has continued to promote the value of spiritual direction.
POPE FRANCIS
Spiritual accompaniment, if it is docile to the Holy Spirit, helps to unmask misunderstandings, even grave ones, in our consideration of ourselves and our relationship with the Lord.
As a Jesuit, the Pope's own spirituality is guided by Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. And in a new book titled, “First belong to God: on retreat with Pope Francis” author Austen Ivereigh leads readers through these Exercises in an 8-day retreat with the Pope. Now, people can have a sense of what it might be like to have Pope Francis as their own spiritual director.
AUSTEN IVEREIGH
Author and biographer of Pope Francis
We have Pope Francis just pointing out, often through brilliant anecdotes, his own experience too, just what is going on in this spiritual battle. How we learn to recognize what we're being called to, the spirit, how we can recognize the spirit at work and how conversely we can recognize the bad spirit, the temptations that lead us away from the journey that we are being called to.
“First belong to God” draws on content from three books that were never translated into English. They include talks Bergoglio gave at retreats over the course of many years. The new book also guides the faithful through the Exercises while drawing on main themes of Francis' pontificate—such as the choice to care for the environment.
AUSTEN IVEREIGH
Author and biographer of Pope Francis
I've really tried to kind of drill down to kind of the essential choice Christ is asking us to make. And it is a choice. It is a dramatic choice. And that choice has repercussions not just for our lives but also for the planet. That's just one example. Other days I treat migration, for example, is a major theme, I have a whole day on synodality as well.
The book was published during a very special time for those following the Ignatian Spirituality. It was the week of the canonization of Argentina's first female saint, Mama Antula, who brought the Spiritual Exercises to tens of thousands of people. And just one week before the Pope suspended all of his normal activities to undertake the Spiritual Exercises himself.
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