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New Co-published Book on Pope Francis “suitable for all categories of people”: Pauline Nun

The new book titled "Walking with Pope Francis - The Official Documents in Everyday Language". Credit: Paulines Publications Africa (PPA)

Readers of the newly co-published book, “Walking with Pope Francis - The Official Documents in Everyday Language”, do not require a background in theology or Church teachings to understand its content, a Catholic Nun serving with the Paulines Publications Africa (PPA), the co-publisher of the book, has said.

In an interview with ACI Africa about the 216-page book that was first published by Orbis Books, the U.S.-based publishing arm of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers (MM), Sr. Mary Wangui Mutahi made reference to the writing style of Fr. James Kroeger, the MM member who authored the book that synthesizes Pope Francis’ three Encyclical Letters, five Apostolic Exhortations, and two Apostolic Letters.

“The author uses the simple and common language of the people to explain the content of each and every article of these 10 documents,” Sr. Wangui said during the Thursday, June 15 interview. 

Sr. Mary Wangui Mutahi. Credit: Daughters of St. Paul (FSP)

“The book is suitable for all categories of people even those without basic foundation in theology and teachings of the Church,” she added about the book published to mark the 10th anniversary of the Pontificate of Pope Francis as “a helpful and reader-friendly digest of ten of his most important documents” (back cover).

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The Kenyan-born member of the Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul (FSP) said that in synthesizing the 10 Papal documents, the book focuses on the themes that dominate the teachings of Pope Francis in the last 10 years, and include faith, joy, mercy, care for the environment, love, fraternity, the liturgy, and refugees and migrants, among other themes.

The three Encyclical Letters that Fr. Kroeger, the author, discusses in the book are the June 2013 Lumen Fidei on the “light of faith”, the May 2015 Laudato Si’ on “care for our common home”, and the October 2020 Fratelli Tutti on “fraternity and social friendship”.

Credit: Paulines Publications Africa (PPA)

The MM member explains five Apostolic Exhortations, including the November 2013 Evangelii Gaudium on the “proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world”, the March 2016 Amoris Laetitia on “love in the family”, the March 2018 Gaudete et Exsultate on the “call to holiness in today’s world”, Christus Vivit on Christ who is alive, and the February 2020 Querida Amazonia that was addressed to the people of God in the Amazon region, and all persons of goodwill.

The author who hold a doctorate in Missiology from Rome synthesizes two Apostolic Letters, which include the April 2015 Misericordiae Vultus that declared an extraordinary jubilee year of mercy to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council, and the June 2022 Desiderio Desideravi on the “Liturgical formation of the people of God”.

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Sr. Mary Wangui Mutahi. Credit: Daughters of St. Paul (FSP)

In the June 15 interview, Sr. Wangui recalled the initial stages of the book, saying Fr. Kroeger who had published the book with U.S.-based Orbis Books requested that it be republished for the African audience.

“His request was timely because it fell under our priorities at that time, to publish the writings of Pope Francis as we mark the tenth anniversary of his pontificate,” Sr. Wangui said about Fr. Kroeger, a longtime professor of Mission Theology at the Loyola School of Theology and the Jesuits’ East Asian Pastoral Institute in Manila, the Philippines.

Credit: Paulines Publications Africa (PPA)

The FSP member who took her perpetual profession in June last year alongside three others said the co-published book offers “a quick reference for one who would like to know what Pope Francis says about a certain topic since it includes both the major topics and sub-topics found in each of these documents.”

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Sr. Mary Wangui Mutahi (front right) during her final profession 17 June 2022. Credit: Paulines Publications Africa (PPA)

“Reading this book also arouses in one the desire to read more on the writings of the Pope,” the native of Kenya’s Nyeri Archdiocese said about the book with the Foreword by Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization.

Going for US$10.00, the book can be found in all PPA bookshops in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, South Sudan, and Sudan. It can also be purchased online from paulinesafrica.org.

ACI Africa was founded in 2019. We provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, giving particular emphasis to the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See, to any person with access to the internet. ACI Africa is proud to offer free access to its news items to Catholic dioceses, parishes, and websites, in order to increase awareness of the activities of the universal Church and to foster a sense of Catholic thought and culture in the life of every Catholic.