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Austen Ivereigh, author and commentator

Austen Ivereigh (born 25 March 1966) is a UK-based Roman Catholic journalist, author, commentator and biographer of Pope Francis.[1] A former deputy editor of The Tablet and later director for public affairs of the former archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, he frequently appears on radio and TV programmes to comment in stories involving the Church. He is Fellow in Contemporary Church History at Campion Hall, Oxford.[2]

Ivereigh was a founder and coordinator of Catholic Voices, which trains people to put the Catholic Church's case in the media.

Education and Writing

In 2014, Ivereigh published The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope, a biography of Pope Francis. Hugh O'Shaughnessy wrote in The Observer, "Dr Ivereigh’s exhaustive book on the first pope from the New World follows Paul Vallely’s excellent Pope Francis: Untying the Knots, in making better known the life and thoughts of this son of Italian immigrants to Buenos Aires."[3] In The Washington Post, Elizabeth Tenety wrote, "In pushing the church forward, Francis today insists that 'God is not afraid of new things' and that the complexities of human life are not necessarily black and white. 'Jorge Bergoglio’s radicalism comes from his willingness to go to the essentials, to pare back to the Gospel,' Ivereigh writes. Francis found his way to the essentials while putting in place the post-Vatican II spiritual renewal in his Jesuit order by focusing on 'poverty, holiness, missionary focus, obedience to the pope and unity.' During his time as provincial superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina, he attempted to reorient a politically charged church culture toward the spirituality of everyday holiness."[4]

Ivereigh followed up with a second biography in 2019: Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church.

Work for the Archbishop of Westminster

Ivereigh speaking at an interview for an Argentinian newspaper.

Ivereigh travelled with the Archbishop to Rome for the conclave where "it was, if not Ratzinger, who? And as they came to know him, the question became, why not Ratzinger?"[5]

Press allegations and resignation

On 18 July 2006, Ivereigh resigned as the cardinal's director of public affairs following allegations by the Daily Mail. The allegations were the subject of legal proceedings initiated by Ivereigh in the High Court of Justice against Associated Newspapers Ltd. (ANL). A trial in February 2008 was inconclusive, but at the retrial in January 2009 the jury unanimously found that Ivereigh had been libelled.[6] He was awarded £30,000 in damages,[6] and all costs,[7] estimated at £3 million. Ivereigh said his reputation had been "comprehensively vindicated".

Catholic Voices

Together with Jack Valero, Austen Ivereigh headed a media group, Catholic Voices,[8] set up to respond to opposition to the visit of the Pope to the UK in 2010.[9]

Bibliography

Authored Books

Edited books

References

  1. ^ Theological Change and the Reform of the Mass, wherepeteris.com, retrieved 2023-04-01.
  2. ^ "austen.ivereigh | Campion Hall". campion.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  3. ^ O'Shaugnessy, Hugh (4 January 2015). "The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope review – 'exhaustive and detailed'". The Observer. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  4. ^ Tenety, Elizabeth (28 November 2014). "Book review: 'The Great Reformer,' Pope Francis, by Austen Ivereigh". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  5. ^ Goodstein, Laurie and Elisabetta Povoledo. "Before Smoke Rises at Vatican, It's Romans vs. the Reformers," New York Times. 11 March 2013; Ivereigh, Austen. "Does cardinal confusion spell a long conclave?" Archived 16 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine Our Sunday Visitor. 11 March By Austen Ivereigh; excerpt, "A former communications director to the Archbishop emeritus of Westminster (England), Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, he accompanied the cardinal to Rome in 2005 for the funeral of Pope John Paul II and election of Pope Benedict XVI"; retrieved 2013-3-12.
  6. ^ a b "Mail in libel payout to Catholic aide over abortion claims". Press Gazette. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Mail pays Church aide libel costs". 30 January 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Home | Catholic Voices". catholicvoices.org.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  9. ^ Donovan, Paul (30 August 2010). "Is Pope Benedict's media team up to the challenge?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
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