Church, Interrupted : Havoc and Hope

Bestselling author, VANITY FAIR contributor, journalist, and scholar John Cornwell examines Pope Francis's life and legacy, and his efforts to break up the traditional Catholic Church so that it may be reshaped as a source of hope, guidance, and support. With exceptional insight, prescient analysis, and original reporting, Cornwell traces the ways in which the Church has fallen from esteem in recent years - and the manner in which the pope has instigated fresh ideas for disrupting entrenched Catholic mindsets in order to create a thriving Church for Catholics around the world. After more than a thousand years of history and tradition, more than a third of America's 74 million Catholics say they are prepared to leave the Church, which is rife with scandal and distrust; this radical decline in attendance, affiliation, and vocations to the priesthood and sisterhoods tells a story of near-irrevocable dissatisfaction. And yet, Cornwell argues, despite facing unprecedented challenges, Francis has instigated dramatic changes designed to restore faith and hope for a thriving future for the Church. Though traditionalist powers and conservative media work against him at every turn, Cornwell argues that the pope is committed to creating a friendlier and more progressive, empathetic, and inviting place of sanctuary. The pope's determination to reverse the tide of disgrace and disillusionment, to rebuild and once again be a beacon of comfort, guidance, and hope for a billion people across the planet, is at the core of CHRUCH, INTERRUPTED, a seminal biography of a pope's influence not just for a modern era of believers but for generations to come.