The Name of God Is Mercy

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pope Francis invites all humanity to an intimate and personal dialogue on the subject closest to his heart: mercy.

“Moving . . . [Pope Francis] opens the sacred space of his conscience to explain how he came to center his ministry, and now his papacy, around mercy.”—James Carroll, The New Yorker

“The name of God is mercy. There are no situations we cannot get out of, we are not condemned to sink into quicksand.”—Pope Francis

In this conversation with Vatican reporter Andrea Tornielli, Francis explains—through memories from his youth and moving anecdotes from his experiences as a pastor—why “mercy is the first attribute of God.” God “does not want anyone to be lost. His mercy is infinitely greater than our sins,” he writes. As well, the Church cannot close the door on anyone, Francis asserts—on the contrary, its duty is to go out into the world to find its way into the consciousness of people so that they can assume responsibility for, and move away from, the bad things they have done.

Clear and profound, The Name of God Is Mercy resonates with this desire to reach all those who are looking for meaning in life, a road to peace and reconciliation, and the healing of physical and spiritual wounds.

Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, son of Italian migrants, the first of five children born in the working-class barrio of Flores. He qualified as a chemical technician, graduated in philosophy in 1963, became a priest in 1969, joined the provincial of the Jesuits of Argentina in 1973, was named auxiliary bishop in 1992, archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, created cardinal in 2001, and since March 13, 2013, Bishop of Rome and the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.

Andrea Tornielli is a veteran Vatican reporter, correspondent for La Stampa, and director of the Vatican Insider website. He also writes for a variety of Italian and international magazines. His publications include the first biography of the Pope, Francis: Pope of a New World, which was translated into sixteen languages, and This Economy Kills: Pope Francis on Capitalism and Social Justice, which was translated into nine languages.