New Books Tell the Stories of Popes Benedict, Francis

Chicago Tribune ^ | November 23, 2016 | Barbara Mahany

[BlessedBeGod]

It's unprecedented in publishing history for two books tracing the spiritual roots and biographies of two living popes to be published within the same month, let alone within the same lifetimes. And in tandem, or alone, they make for extraordinary reading.

One, "Last Testament: In His Own Words," by Pope Benedict XVI with Peter Seewald, is the much-awaited, book-length, question-and-answer autobiography of the only modern-day pope to retire from the papacy. While Benedict's resignation in February 2013 fueled a firestorm of speculation, and bracketed a deeply divisive chapter of Catholic Church scandal, the ex-officio pope breaks his silence here and takes on the tough, fine-grained questions of veteran Vatican observer and fellow German Seewald, a journalist who has recorded three other book-length interviews with the former Joseph Ratzinger...

[BlessedBeGod]

Last Testament
By Pope Benedict XVI, with Peter Seewald, Bloomsbury Continuum, 288 pages, $24

Pilgrimage
By Mark K. Shriver, Random House, 320 pages, $28

[GreyFriar]

As a historian, I should read both, but I’m definitely buying and reading “Last Testament” by Pope Benedict XVI. I’ll wait for the one on Pope Francis to arrive at the remainder’s bin at my local bookseller.