The Vatican Publishing House will publish on November 24 The Personal Diary of Pope Francis, a volume prepared by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández from the private notes that Jorge Mario Bergoglio wrote between December 1992 and August 2024.
The book will appear simultaneously in five languages and will be distributed in 94 countries. The Italian edition will be handled by the Vatican Publishing House; Penguin Random House will publish the Spanish, English, and Portuguese versions, while the French edition will be in the hands of Albin Michel.
According to information released by the Vatican and the participating publishers, Fernández does not limit himself to presenting the volume. The current prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is listed as responsible for compiling, editing, and annotating the texts left by Francis.
A diary that begins in 1992
The notes begin on December 20, 1992, a few months after Bergoglio was consecrated auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires, and conclude on August 18, 2024.
The period thus spans more than three decades: his time as auxiliary bishop, his subsequent leadership of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, his creation as cardinal in 2001, and the first eleven years of his pontificate, which began with his election on March 13, 2013.
The last entry included in the volume is dated eight months before the death of Francis, which occurred on April 21, 2025.
Fernández selects, edits, and comments on the notes
One of the most relevant aspects of the publication is the role played by Cardinal Fernández in preparing the material.
The Vatican Publishing House notes that the prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith “presents and comments on” Francis’s notes, while Penguin Random House’s editorial listing identifies him as responsible for compiling, editing, and annotating the diary.
Fernández maintained a close relationship with Bergoglio both before and during his pontificate. Francis appointed him archbishop in 2013 and, ten years later, chose him to succeed Cardinal Luis Ladaria at the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. That same year he created him cardinal.
It will therefore be Fernández who presents to the public and contextualizes a selection of private writings that date back more than twenty years before Francis’s election as Pope.
For the moment, the criteria used to select the included notes have not been specified, whether the volume reproduces all the preserved material corresponding to those dates, or what proportion of the book corresponds to comments by Fernández himself.
The Vatican will present it in Frankfurt
Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, has indicated that the purpose of the publication is to allow the public to “know even more about the interiority of the Argentine Pontiff.”
The Vatican Publishing House will take the project to the Frankfurt Book Fair, which runs from October 7 to 11, before its international release scheduled for November 24.
So far, the complete index of the volume has not been released, nor have extensive excerpts been published that would allow a detailed understanding of which episodes Francis addresses in his notes.
It has also not been publicly clarified whether Bergoglio left specific instructions regarding the posthumous publication of these texts or the role Fernández was to play in their editorial preparation.
The Personal Diary of Pope Francis will thus arrive in bookstores next month with writings dated between 1992 and 2024, selected and prepared for publication under the editorial responsibility of the current prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.