Pope Francis autobiography: we’ve never known so much about the pontiff before

By Liam Temple, Assistant Professor in the History of Catholicism, Durham University

Constantly in the public eye, Pope Francis is instantly recognisable across the globe, and his likeness adorns t-shirts, mugs, calendars, bookmarks, medals and jewellery, among other things. Too conservative for some, not conservative enough for others, he is the face of the modern Catholic Church.

Yet it has not always been this way. It was only with Pope Pius IX in the mid-19th century that the papacy would become so visible. He was the first to have his picture widely displayed in Catholic households. This was facilitated by mass manufacturing techniques, which enabled cheap books…

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