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Jon M. Sweeney, author of numerous popular books on St. Francis as well as the recent bestseller The Pope Who Quit, offers a surprising new look at the world’s most popular saint, showing how this beloved, but often-mythologized character created a spiritual vision for the ages and may very well have rescued the Christian faith.
In When Saint Francis Saved the Church, popular historian Jon Sweeney presents an intriguing portrait of Francis beyond the readily familiar stories and images. In the tradition of Thomas Cahill’s How the Irish Saved Civilization, Sweeney reveals how the saint became a hinge in the history of the Christian faith and shows how in just fourteen years—from 1205 to 1219—the unconventional and stumbling wisdom of a converted troubadour changed the Church. Sweeney outlines Francis’s revolutionary approach to friendship, “the other” (people at the margins), poverty, spirituality, care (for people, creatures, and the natural world), and death.
This vibrant book presents the unsullied life and message of Francis in its essential details, offering a sweeping, informative, remarkable look at how Francis and his movement quite literally saved the Christian faith—and continues to offer a spiritual vision with contemporary relevance.
“Sweeney brings St. Francis into the twenty-first century.”
“Once again with his reader-friendly style, practical advice, and sense that history is really present in its impact on our daily lives, Jon Sweeney brings St. Francis into the twenty-first century as a friend and model we can delight in and trust. In six simple ways Sweeney’s Francis shows us how to transform our lives and give them joy and meaning. This Francis is a Francis that readers may feel they are meeting anew and finding even more relevant in their lives.”
Murray Bodo, O.F.M.
Author of The Way of St. Francis
