Random House publishes HOPE, first autobiography by a sitting Pope, released globally in 80 countries; Pope Francis wrote memoir over six years for 2025 Jubilee of Hope

January 17, 2025 (press release) –

NEWS

HOPE, first autobiography in history to be published by a Pope.

On Tuesday, January 14, Random House Group published HOPE, the autobiography of Pope Francis in the US. The U.S. edition of the first memoir by a sitting pontiff is edited by Molly Turpin, Senior Editor, Random House. HOPE, which took the Pontiff six years to write, is published simultaneously worldwide in principal languages and in over 80 countries in time for the 2025 Jubilee of Hope. An audiobook edition was released simultaneously in English by Penguin Random House Audio.  

The cover of Pope Francis’ autobiography.

Written with Carlo Musso, former non-fiction editorial director of Piemme and Sperling & Kupfer, and then founder of the independent publisher Libreria Pienogiorno, in accordance with the wishes of Pope Francis, this unprecedented memoir was originally intended to be published after the Pope’s passing. The announcement of the new Jubilee of Hope in 2025 inspired him to make this legacy available now.  

“The book of my life is the story of a journey of hope, a journey that I cannot separate from the journey of my family, of my people, of all God’s people. In every page, in every passage, it is also the book of those who have traveled with me, of those who came before, of those who will follow,” offers Pope Francis. “An autobiography is not our own private story, but rather the baggage we carry with us. And memory is not just what we recall, but what surrounds us. It doesn’t speak only about what has been, but about what will be. It seems like yesterday, and yet it’s tomorrow. All is born to blossom in an eternal springtime. In the end, we will say only: I don’t recall anything in which You are not there.”    

HOPE has a wealth of revelations, anecdotes, and illuminating thoughts.

HOPE includes a wealth of revelations, anecdotes, and illuminating thoughts. It is a thrilling and very human memoir, destined to fascinate readers throughout the world and to represent a legacy of hope for future generations. HOPE is enhanced by remarkable photographs, including private and unpublished material made personally available by the Pope. The New York Times says, “Hope vividly recreates the colorful world where the young Jorge Mario Bergoglio grew up.”