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IN BOOKSHOPS FROM 17 SEPTEMBER 2024

Sii tenero, sii coraggioso

(Be tender, be courageous)

POPE FRANCIS

with

ANTONIO SPADARO

Sunday 22 September – 15.00

Fr. Antonio Spadaro in dialogue with Massimo Recalcati

Pordenonelegge Auditorium Vendramini Institute

“Be tender, be courageous”: with this phrase, in February 2022, Pope Francis addressed a group of Jesuits he met in the Democratic Republic of Congo, issuing in few, but penetrating words a message of love that is also a declaration of commitment. Besides, in the private conversations with members of the Society of Jesus during his apostolic journeys in the world, the Pontiff has often succeeded in expressing the deepest meaning of his mission. Fr. Antonio Spadaro, journeying with him, has been a witness to these meetings, and he gathers in this volume the eighteen conversations that have taken place to date. They communicate and revive the foundational values of Pope Francis’ pontificate: from grace to consolation, from freedom to hope, to the readiness to open oneself fearlessly to renewal – in faith, as in law and morality – and above all to show to one’s neighbour the closeness and compassion that are the hallmark of “God’s style”.

Antonio Spadaro (1966) is a Jesuit and under-secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education. He served for many years as editor of “La Civiltà Cattolica”, and conducted the first interview with Pope Francis (My door is always open, 2013). He edited the Italian editions of the writings of Jorge Mario Bergoglio first as a Jesuit and then as archbishop of Buenos Aires. He has also edited two international projects on the Pontiff’s conversations with children (Dear Pope Francis [L’amore prima del mondo] 2016) and with the elderly (Sharing the Wisdom of Time [La saggezza del tempo], 2018). He accompanies him on his apostolic journeys, and participates in the Synod assemblies of the universal Church.

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