NEW YORK — The diary entries that Pope Francis kept before and during his papacy will be published for the first time this fall.
Image, an imprint of Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group, announced Monday that “The Private Diary of Pope Francis” will be published in English and four other languages on Nov. 24.
According to Image, the book will provide an “extraordinary look” into the late pope’s “hopes and fears, struggles and prayers.” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, or LEV, will be published in partnership with the Vatican Publishing House.
The writings date from December 1992, more than a decade before he became pope, before he died and was succeeded by Pope Benedict XIV. It extends to August 2024, eight months before Leo passes. The English edition of his private reflections was translated from the Spanish original by Sister Bernadette Reis and edited and annotated by Argentinian cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who presides over the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Francis was a native of Argentina and history’s first Latin American pope. He was known for his down-to-earth style and emphasis on humility, including visits to poor countries populated by persecuted Christian minorities rather than the traditional strongholds of Catholicism. From an empty St. Peter’s Square at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, he called for “let us all row together, each needing to comfort the other.”
It was controversial at times. He has angered some conservatives with his outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics and has been widely criticized for saying Chilean Bishop Juan Barros was slandered by those who accused him of helping protect the alleged pedophile Father Fernando Karadima. In 2016, commenting on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s promise to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, Francis said that anyone who builds a wall to keep out immigrants is “not a Christian.”
Among the books Francis wrote during his lifetime were “The Name of God is Mercy” and the memoir “Hope.” He died on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88.