LET US DREAM

In this uplifting and practical book written in collaboration with his biographer Austen Ivereigh the preeminent spiritual leader explains why we must―and how we can―make the world safer fairer and healthier for all people now.   In the COVID crisis the beloved shepherd of over one billion Catholics saw the cruelty and inequity of our society exposed more vividly than ever before. He also saw in the resilience generosity and creativity of so many people the means to rescue our society our economy and our planet. In direct powerful prose Pope Francis urges us not to let the pain be in vain.    He begins Let Us Dream by exploring what this crisis can teach us about how to handle upheaval of any kind in our own lives and the world at large. With unprecedented candor he reveals how three crises in his own life changed him dramatically for the better. By its very nature he shows crisis presents us with a choice: we make a grievous error if we try to return to some pre-crisis state. But if we have the courage to change we can emerge from the crisis better than before.   Francis then offers a brilliant scathing critique of the systems and ideologies that conspired to produce the current crisis from a global economy obsessed with profit and heedless of the people and environment it harms to politicians who foment their people’s fear and use it to increase their own power at their people’s expense. He reminds us that Christians’ first duty is to serve others especially the poor and the marginalized just as Jesus did.     Finally the Pope offers an inspiring and actionable blueprint for building a better world for all humanity by putting the poor and the planet at the heart of new thinking. For this plan he draws not only on sacred sources but on the latest findings from renowned scientists economists activists and other thinkers. Yet rather than simply offer prescriptions he shows how ordinary people acting together despite their differences can discover unforeseen possibilities.   Along the way he offers dozens of wise and surprising observations on the value of unconventional thinking on why we must dramatically increase women’s leadership in the Church and throughout society on what he learned while scouring the streets of Buenos Aires with garbage-pickers and much more.  Let Us Dream is an epiphany a call to arms and a pleasure to read. It is Pope Francis at his most personal profound and passionate. With this book and with open hearts we can change the world.