The Pope's Cat (Volume 1). This item is unavailable.The Pope's Cat (Volume 1)

“A heartwarming tale, which gives the papacy a human touch.” –Christopher Lamb, Rome correspondent, The Tablet

"I give it one million stars!" —Luca, Mrs. Gilman's class, St. Margaret Mary School (Omaha, NE)

Meet Margaret — the Pope's cat — in the very first book in this best-selling series by Jon M. Sweeney!

This is the story of a stray born on the Via della Conciliazione in Rome, how she’s adopted by the Pope, and then “rules” the Vatican from museum to floorboard! First in a new series.
 
No one has a closer view of what’s happening in the world’s tiniest nation, Vatican City, than Margaret, the Pope’s new cat. But she wasn’t always Margaret, and she wasn’t always the Pope’s cat. She started out as a stray on the streets of Rome, and there are those in the Vatican who wish she’d never been allowed inside.
 
This fun, adorable new character will appeal to all kids!  Here is a cat who does what she likes regardless of what others, even someone like the Pope, expects of her—even when the Queen of England comes on a state visit!

This new fiction series is intended for Catholic schools, elementary school teachers, Catholic librarians, superintendents of schools, reading specialists, educators, catechists, school principals, Catholic homeschoolers, and parents.

Jon M. Sweeney is an independent scholar and award-winning author. His books have been translated into many languages. He's a popular interpreter of the life and work of Francis of Assisi, and author of more than 40 books including St. Francis of Assisi with a foreword by Richard Rohr, and The Complete Francis of Assisi used by Third Order Franciscans. HBO optioned the film rights to Sweeney's book on the medieval Pope Celestine V, The Pope Who Quit.

In 2023, Jon published Sit in the Sun: And Other Lessons in the Spiritual Wisdom of Cats, and Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness and Light, coauthored with Mark S. Burrows. Jon has been interviewed on CBS News, WGN-TV, Fox News, and CBS Saturday Morning, and by publications online from CNN to Romper. He's a practicing Catholic who also prays regularly with his wife, a congregational rabbi. He loves the church, the synagogue, and other aspects of organized religion. He would never say he's "spiritual but not religious." He is the father of four and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sweeney is codirector of The Lux Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at Sacred Heart Seminary; religion editor at Monkfish Book Publishing; editor of Living City magazine; and contributing editor for books at SpiritualityandPractice.com.

Roy DeLeon is an Oblate of St. Benedict, a spiritual director, a workshop facilitator focused on creative praying, an Urban Sketcher, and a professional illustrator. In addition to illustrating The Pope's Cat series, he is also the author of Praying with the Body: Bringing the Psalms to Life. He lives in Bothell, Washington, with his wife, Annie.