March Publishers Newsletter 2026
ida decesaris
Dear Friends,
For many viewers, the 2024 film “Conclave” provided a fictional glimpse of the election of a new pope. Readers of Gerald O’Connell’s 2019 book, The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Account of the Conclave that Changed History already knew a great deal about the actual inside process. Fr. Jim Martin called it “the closest you’ll get to a conclave unless you’re named a cardinal.”
Gerry is the Vatican correspondent for America, while his wife, Elisabetta Piqué, is the Vatican correspondent for Argentina’s La Nación. Together, this “Dream Team” of Vatican watchers have written The Election of Pope Leo XIV: The Last Surprise of Pope Francis. As with Gerry’s previous book, they follow a diary format, tracing the story from the death and funeral of Pope Francis (a personal friend), the gathering of cardinals, the intrigue of outsiders (especially from the U.S.) hoping to influence the narrative, the conclave itself, and its surprising conclusion in the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first U.S.-born pope. Fr. Martin again provides his enthusiastic endorsement for an “un-put-downable” book that “reads like a thriller.”
Another new book, On the Love of Christ, offers insight into the lines of continuity between the two popes by combining Dilexit Nos, the final encyclical of Pope Francis, and Dilexi Te, the first apostolic exhortation of Pope Leo XIV. Intended to complement each other, these documents present a comprehensive reflection on Christ’s love, the first with emphasis on the spiritual dimensions; the second on the social implications.
In her introduction, Mary Frohlich notes how, together, they issue “a call to simplicity of life, personal encounter with Jesus, seeing with the eyes of the heart, being brothers and sisters with the poor, missionary discipleship, and active building of a society based in gospel values.”
L. Callid Keefe-Perry’s Tending Call: A Liberation Theology of Vocation offers another approach to the integration of spirituality and justice in the context of discerning God’s call. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi of Illif School of Theology calls it “nothing short of revolutionary . . . [breathing] life into how we engage identity, vocation, and the spiritual journey. More broadly these pages invite liberative possibilities across the whole of theological education.”
Meanwhile, the personal and social dimensions of Christian discipleship and mission underlie all four winners of this year’s Illumination Awards:
David Toole’s Love Made Me an Inventor: The Story of Maggy Barankitse—
Humanitarian, Genocide Survivor, Citizen without Borders was named one of five Outstanding Books of the Year. Paul Schutz’s A Theology of Flourishing won a Gold Medal for Theology. Dustin Feddon’s More than Half-Way Home: A Story of Accompaniment in the Shadows of Incarceration won a Gold Medal for Mission/Ministry. And our compilation of writings by Pope Francis, drawn from his many Orbis titles, I Am a Mission on this Earth, won a Silver Medal for Catholic books.
Finally, we mourn the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., a prophetic champion of justice and human rights. He said, “My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised.” We were proud to publish a collection of his sermons and speeches, edited by Grace Ji-Sun Kim, whose title stands as a living exhortation in these times: Keeping Hope Alive.
Peace and good,
Robert Ellsberg
Publisher