HOPE
The Autobiography
Will be published approx. on 10. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-4059-7893-4 (ISBN)
Description
THE GLOBAL BESTSELLER
The groundbreaking, intimate and inspiring memoir from Pope Francis.
Books of the Year 2025: The Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, New Statesman
'Remarkable' Guardian
'Elegant and joyful' Financial Times
Pope Francis originally intended this exceptional book to appear only after his death, but the needs of our times and the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope have moved him to make this precious legacy available now.
HOPE is the first autobiography in history ever to be published by a Pope. Written over six years, this complete autobiography starts in the early years of the twentieth century, with Pope Francis's Italian roots and his ancestors' courageous migration to Latin America, continuing through his childhood, the enthusiasms and preoccupations of his youth, his vocation, adult life, and the whole of his papacy up to the present day.
In recounting his memories with intimate narrative force (not forgetting his own personal passions), Pope Francis deals unsparingly with some of the crucial moments of his papacy and writes candidly, fearlessly and prophetically about some of the most important and controversial questions of our present times: war and peace (including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East), migration, environmental crisis, social policy, the position of women, sexuality, technological developments, the future of the Church and of religion in general.
HOPE includes a wealth of revelations, anecdotes and illuminating thoughts. It is a thrilling and very human memoir, moving and sometimes funny, which represents the 'story of a life' and, at the same time, a touching moral and spiritual testament that will fascinate readers throughout the world and will be Pope Francis's legacy of hope for future generations.
The groundbreaking, intimate and inspiring memoir from Pope Francis.
Books of the Year 2025: The Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, New Statesman
'Remarkable' Guardian
'Elegant and joyful' Financial Times
Pope Francis originally intended this exceptional book to appear only after his death, but the needs of our times and the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope have moved him to make this precious legacy available now.
HOPE is the first autobiography in history ever to be published by a Pope. Written over six years, this complete autobiography starts in the early years of the twentieth century, with Pope Francis's Italian roots and his ancestors' courageous migration to Latin America, continuing through his childhood, the enthusiasms and preoccupations of his youth, his vocation, adult life, and the whole of his papacy up to the present day.
In recounting his memories with intimate narrative force (not forgetting his own personal passions), Pope Francis deals unsparingly with some of the crucial moments of his papacy and writes candidly, fearlessly and prophetically about some of the most important and controversial questions of our present times: war and peace (including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East), migration, environmental crisis, social policy, the position of women, sexuality, technological developments, the future of the Church and of religion in general.
HOPE includes a wealth of revelations, anecdotes and illuminating thoughts. It is a thrilling and very human memoir, moving and sometimes funny, which represents the 'story of a life' and, at the same time, a touching moral and spiritual testament that will fascinate readers throughout the world and will be Pope Francis's legacy of hope for future generations.
Reviews / Votes
Hope vividly recreates the colorful world where the young Jorge Mario Bergoglio grew up * The New York Times * Vivid and sensitive . . . Francis is keenly conscious of his roots in a history of migration and a society of very diverse cultural strands. . . . Powerful and moving . . . This book is at its best when the Pope speaks directly from his first-hand experience of contact with the vulnerable, and he has a gift for bringing these encounters vividly to life * The New Statesman * For fans of Conclave, there's quite the inside story of the real thing in 2013 in the Pope's new autobiography. . . . The Pope who emerges from this book is an attractive figure * The London Standard *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
229 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4059-7893-4 (9781405978934)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Pope Francis (Author)
Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, the son of Italian migrants, the first of five children born in the working-class barrio of Flores, Jorge Mario Bergoglio qualified as a chemical technician, graduated in philosophy in 1963, and became a priest in 1969. He was appointed provincial of the Jesuits of Argentina in 1973, and was named auxiliary bishop in 1992, archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and created cardinal in 2001. In 2013, he became the Bishop of Rome and the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.
HOPE was written in collaboration with Carlo Musso and is being published simultaneously in major languages in over eighty countries.
Richard Dixon (Translator)
Richard Dixon lives and works in Italy. His translations include works by Giacomo Leopardi, Umberto Eco, Roberto Calasso, Paolo Volponi and Antonio Moresco. His translation of The Experience of Pain by Carlo Emilio Gadda is published by Penguin Classics.
Pope Francis was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, the son of Italian migrants, the first of five children born in the working-class barrio of Flores, Jorge Mario Bergoglio qualified as a chemical technician, graduated in philosophy in 1963, and became a priest in 1969. He was appointed provincial of the Jesuits of Argentina in 1973, and was named auxiliary bishop in 1992, archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and created cardinal in 2001. In 2013, he became the Bishop of Rome and the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.
HOPE was written in collaboration with Carlo Musso and is being published simultaneously in major languages in over eighty countries.
Richard Dixon (Translator)
Richard Dixon lives and works in Italy. His translations include works by Giacomo Leopardi, Umberto Eco, Roberto Calasso, Paolo Volponi and Antonio Moresco. His translation of The Experience of Pain by Carlo Emilio Gadda is published by Penguin Classics.