Two books by Pope Francis due to be published in Italian

Vatican City, Mar 25, 2013 / 13:16 pm

Two books written by Pope Francis while he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires will be available on March 26, according to the Vatican.

Both texts were written in Spanish in 2006. They are entitled "Humility, the road towards God," and "Recovering from Corruption" – also called "Corruption and sin: some thoughts on corruption."

Both draw upon Jesuit spirituality, offering solutions for the corruption of society based on the wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. Among the solutions offered by Pope Francis is the need for an ecclesial life characterized by fraternal charity.

"Corruption and Sin" examines corruption in Argentina and the world, finding its roots in the human heart. It distinguishes between corruption and sin in a novel way, according to the Vatican.

The Pope's book on humility discusses a text by Saint Dorotheus of Gaza, a sixth century abbot, and is strongly spiritual.

The writings of Pope Francis are not yet widely available in English. Image Books, an imprint of Random House, is due to publish "On Heaven and Earth" in May. That work is a conversation between Pope Francis and the rabbi Abraham Skorka on various theological and worldly issues. It was first published in Spanish in 2010.