National Network for Equitable Library Service

Who could have imagined that at a time of deep global uncertainty and institutional failure, a soft-spoken figure dressed in white would step onto the world stage with a message of hope? The election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis marks an epic moment in troubled times for a world struggling to imagine its future. And what better way to celebrate this moment than with a light touch — a cartoon strip called simply “Francis,” about an unlikely pope who says and does surprising things almost daily to offer hope based on compassion and humor. In this eBook original, Kansas City cartoonist Pat Marrin joins humor to hope in Francis, the adventures of a reluctant pope who is renewing his church by turning it upside down in order to set free its original spirit and purpose.