Pope Leo XIV’s early writings on St. Augustine and the challenges facing the Church have been released in English, offering readers a collection of homilies, addresses, messages and letters from the years before he became Pope.
Freedom Under Grace: Reflections on the Spiritual Tradition That Formed Me was released in English on September 15 in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and other Commonwealth countries.
The book was originally published in Italian in May by the Vatican Publishing House (LEV) under the title Liberi sotto la grazia. It brings together writings by Robert Francis Prevost from his years as Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine from 2001 to 2013.
According to Vatican News, the collection offers a closer look at the spiritual formation and thought of Pope Leo XIV before his election to the papacy. The volume was edited by Augustinian Fathers Rocco Ronzani, Miguel Ángel Martín Juárez and Michael Di Gregorio.
The writings address a range of issues, including the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, political developments, poverty, migration, peace and the Church’s engagement with contemporary society.
The book draws heavily on the thought of St. Augustine, whom Pope Leo has described as his spiritual father. Its title comes from the Rule of St. Augustine, which calls religious to live “as free men under grace.”
At the presentation of the Italian edition in Rome in May, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, highlighted the book’s attention to Christians’ relationship with the poor and migrants, as well as its reflections on peace, evangelization and the life of the Church.
Vatican News reported that Cardinal Parolin also pointed to the frequent references to poverty and the poor in the collection, saying they reflected the central place given to people on the margins.
The book also includes a reflection delivered by then-Father Prevost in Manila in 2010 during the inauguration of an intermediate General Chapter of the Augustinian Province of Santo Niño de Cebu. In the reflection, he drew on the conversion of Andrés de Urdaneta and the spiritual tradition of St. Augustine.
The English edition is published in the United States by Image Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group. In the United Kingdom and Australia, it is published by the Enlighten imprint of Penguin Random House UK.
The book is being translated into several languages and is expected to reach readers in many countries. Vatican News reported in May that translations were underway in 30 countries.
An audiobook edition has also been released, featuring selected homilies and addresses read by Emmy Award-winning comedian and Catholic Stephen Colbert, while the main text is narrated by award-winning narrator and Grammy nominee Scott Brick.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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