Pope’s controversial statements ‘part of reform plan’

Unscripted and sometimes controversial statements by Pope Francis are part of the larger reform of the Church and the papacy, according to the author of a new biography on the first Jesuit pope.

Speaking before a public lecture at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Austen Ivereigh said his book The Great Reformer; Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope deals extensively with any criticisms of the first non-European Catholic Pope.

However, the London-based journalist, who has a PhD from Oxford on Church State Relations in Argentina, admits he began to “deeply admire” the new pope during his research for the book, in particular for his “great courage”.