Pope Francis, Builder of Bridges-and a bit behind the title

Jorge Bergoglio. That name doesn’t exactly sound familiar. Isn’t that the guy down the street who does drywall? Wait, they own that business in the strip mall don’t they? No, Jorge Bergoglio is world famous and you know him even if you don’t think that you do. He’s Pope Francis by any other name and Pope Francis: Builder of Bridges is an illustrated book is the story of his life before becoming the Pope; and a little bit about why his time as Pope resonates with people outside of the Catholic Church.

For starters, it’s odd to see the current Pope being depicted as a real, normal person. We see illustrations of his childhood in Buenos Aires, playing soccer, reading books and praying with Rosa his grandmother. As a young man he was studying chemistry, but constantly found himself being concerned about helping the poor. He would drive down to the villas miserias, the miserable slums to comfort the poor when he had time.

In his thirties he became a Jesuit priest, which earned him the slightly more familiar name of Father Bergoglio. His work to the local kids increased where he’d now have soccer viewing parties, in addition to his duties with the church. When he became the Bishop of Buenos Aires the Argentine people started to refer to him as the “Slum Bishop”. This attracted the attention of Pope John Paul II who admired his work and thus earned him the title of cardinal.

When   Pope Benedict XVI resigned Father Bergoglio flew to Rome to help choose the next Pope. As the cardinals gathered some started to suggest Father Bergoglio become the next Pope. Soon enough the magic smoke puffed out white and a new Pope, Pope Francis was announced!

Isn’t that interesting? He goes to help them find the next Pope and ends up becoming Pope Francis. It’s like The Ramones finding their next Ramone in a convention of dedicated and talented Ramone fans. The book continues as it gives examples of his soft spoken nature and humble ways that have ingrained him around the world to folks who might not be Catholic.

Pope Francis Builder of Bridges is by Emma Otheguy with illustrations by Oliver Dominguez. It’s about a religious man obviously, but it’s not religious in a preachy manner. It has lessons and morals that anybody can learn from regardless of if they have any religious affiliation or not. The illustrations are realistic, quite lovely and paint a man’s life that anyone can relate to, at least until he becomes Pope Francis.