American Hope is our first read for our Opening Doors Book Club

The first read we have chosen for our new Opening Doors Book Club is American Hope by Christopher Lamb.

As white smoke signalled a new pope had been chosen on the evening of 8 May 2025, Robert Prevost went from being a relatively unknown cardinal to one of the most famous people on earth, the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

In American Hope CNN's Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb explores what the election of Pope Leo means not just for the Catholic Church, but for the world. Drawing on his deep understanding of the Vatican, Lamb paints a portrait of Pope Leo as someone who combines an ability to unify with a steely determination to reform. He provides insights into the themes that will dominate Leo's papacy as the new pope steers a path between traditionalists and reformers.

The book is widely available from all good book shops and online for whatever e-reader you might have.

We will announce the date of the first online gathering of the book club as soon as possible.

Happy reading! Keep the other book suggestions coming in too - we have had some fantastic recommendations.

We will have a shortlist of four books that we will present to the Book Club each month and they will chose the one they want to read for the next month.

Email us at mercyenews@mercyinternational.ie with your book suggestions and let us know if you want to be added to the book club mailing list.

About Opening Doors

Opening Doors is part of our response to the challenges facing Mercy today. It is more than just a project; it symbolises openness, welcome, hospitality, networking, collaboration, and the sharing of Catherine’s legacy of Mercy. After wide-ranging consultation and group exploration across the Mercy World, five themes emerged as significant to our Mercy companions: Action for Justice, Communications, Formation, Structures and Youth Engagement.

Opening Doors is a comprehensive initiative that aims to develop relevant and meaningful in-person formation experiences and online formation resources for the Mercy global world. These resources are designed for a wide range of audiences, including the executive leadership teams of Mercy Ministries, Mercy Associates, universities, schools, hospitals, justice, environmental, and community groups, and all our companions throughout the Mercy world. It is a collaborative effort that unites us all in our shared mission of Mercy, making each one of us an integral part of this journey.

We hope that our book club can tick quite a few of the items on the checklists above. Primarily is is about connection, some formation and engagement across the Mercy World.

We’d love you to join us!