“This journey began in 2019 and comes to an end at the beginning of December 2024, when the pope created 21 new cardinals who once again demonstrated his vision of a universal Church,” he explained.

The Italian editor — who has come to know Pope Francis in all his human dimension — pointed out that he is “a man born in 1936 who only looks back in order to project his gaze even farther ahead.”

Over the course of 400 pages, the pontiff narrates in first person the twists and turns of his life that have marked his 88 years, from his childhood in Argentina in the midst of a family of Italian immigrants to becoming the successor of St. Peter.

It all begins with a terrifying episode: the sinking of the transatlantic ship Principessa Mafalda, known as the “Italian Titanic.” His grandparents, along with his father, Mario, had bought tickets to travel on the ship that set sail from Genoa on Oct. 11, 1927, bound for Buenos Aires.

However, they ultimately didn’t board the vessel because they were unable to sell their belongings in time. “That’s why I am here now; you can’t imagine how many times I have thanked divine providence for it,” the pontiff recounts in the book.

For Musso, this episode influenced the pope’s “sensitivity” on this subject, as did many others that have marked his magisterium, such as the cruelty of war or his inclination to open up paths to interreligious dialogue. “His personal experience of fraternity is clearly evident when he says that it was common for him to interact with Muslims and Jews,” Musso noted.

In the last chapter, Pope Francis imagines the future of the Church, which “will continue forward, because I am but a step.”

“I dream of a papacy that is increasingly more service and communally oriented,” he wrote. 

The Holy Father predicts, among other things, that the Catholic Church “will become increasingly universal and its future, and strength will also come from Latin America, Asia, India, Africa, and this can already be seen in the wealth of vocations.”

He also proposes that the Church and Catholics grow “in creativity, in understanding the challenges of contemporary times, openness to dialogue, and not being closed off by fear.”