The Courage to Be Christian 
The Pope's gentle humility and insistence that we can do better in our efforts to love our neighbors as ourselves sent shock waves through the Catholic community again (though what is deeply disturbing is that this message would send shock waves through the Catholic community).

Pope Francis has now taken a strong stand in favor of banning the death penalty and life imprisonment.  Further, he 'denounced what he called a "penal populism" that promises to solve society's problems by punishing crime instead of pursuing social justice.'

This puts Pope Francis and Michelle Alexander on the same page...in a book we all need to read!

'Using techniques similar to those of racist regimes of the past, the pope said, unspecified forces today create "stereotypical figures that sum up the characteristics that society perceives as threatening."'