A Future of Faith: The Path of Change in Politics and Society

French journalist Wolton bases this uneven work on 12 interviews he conducted with Pope Francis between 2016 and 2017. The book collects these dialogues in eight thematic sections alongside extracts from Pope Francis’s formal addresses, given between October 2014 and April 2017, with mixed results. Though the dialogues are presented thematically, the conversations skip around quickly and vaguely invoke complex ideas such as globalization, modernity, or humanism, without either speaker pausing to define his terms. For example, Wolton states that Pope Francis is “perhaps in real terms the first Pope of globalisation, between Latin America and Europe.” Despite the book’s freewheeling nature, the two come back time and again to discussions of intra-Catholic and international politics, cultural identity, interreligious dialogue, abortion, gender, and sexuality. Wolton approaches his discussions with Pope Francis as an admirer, and the lack of challenging or probing lines of questioning will disappoint anyone looking for a nuanced discussion of the pope’s theological and political positions and practices. As Wolton himself suggests, this volume will likely find its most receptive audience among those who already appreciate the pope’s perspective. (Aug.)