Book Review: Francis Man of Prayer

When I was presented with a chance to review Mario Escobar's Francis: Man of Prayer
 I was pretty excited.  The more I learn about Pope Francis the more I like him and I was very eager to learn more about him by reading a biography about him.  Now I have to say I was a bit surprised to see that a Christian publisher had published a book about the Holy Father.  Of course, after having read through the book I realize now that alarm bells probably should have gone off in my head after my initial surprise at a Christian publisher doing a biography on a Pope.  But I thought the best of the publisher and agreed to review this book.

The book started off great.  It gave a nice background on Pope Francis before he became Pope.  I was able to see past what I perceived as quaint descriptions of Catholic practices.  I know that Protestants don't fully get Catholicism so I wasn't bothered by some of their descriptions that missed the mark.  But then I delved further into the book and the more I read the more I became convinced that this book was pure anti-Catholic garbage.

The author didn't just make slights at Pope Francis, he had plenty of inaccurate and off base things to say about Blessed John Paul II and our Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.  And there was plenty of inaccuracies regarding the Catholic Church in general.  If you're a rabid anti-Catholic then you'll likely enjoy this book.  If, however, you're a Catholic I'd suggest you steer clear of this book and pick up a book published by a Catholic publisher.  Our Sunday Visitor has recently published a biography of Pope Francis which I'm certain would be a much more accurate account of our new Holy Father.

I was provided with a free review copy of this book by Book Sneeze in exchange for my brutally honest review.