To the astonishment of the Vatican and the world, Pope Francis has delivered yet another surprise: He kept a private diary from Dec. 20, 1992, to Aug. 18, 2024, just nine months before his death.

The Vatican Publishing House (LEV) announced in a press communique today that the diary will be incorporated into a book to be published on Nov. 24 in partnership with Image, an imprint of Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group for the English-language version. 

“The Private Diary of Pope Francis presents and comments on notes [‘appunti’ in Italian] that Bergoglio made from Dec. 20, 1992, to Aug. 18, 2024,” the publisher said. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, edited and annotated the diary for publication. The Argentine cardinal was one of Pope Francis’ closest collaborators at the Vatican. 

The Vatican described the diary as “a text of exceptional value and importance for knowing more [deeply] the Jesuit pope” who led the Catholic Church from his election on March 13, 2013, to his death on April 21, 2025.

This cover image released by Image, an imprint of Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group, shows “The Private Diary of Pope Francis” by Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. (Image via AP)

“We are deeply honoured to publish this text by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, which introduces the public to Pope Francis’s Diary,” Andrea Tornielli, the editorial director of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, said in the press release. “Through this book, which we believe will be appreciated by readers around the world, we will be able to gain even deeper insight into the inner life of the Argentine pontiff,” he said.

America understands that the diary is not like St. John XXIII’s spiritual autobiography, Journey of a Soul, published in 1964. The Vatican speaks of “appunti,” which in Italian means “notes,” “observations” or perhaps even “reflections,” written over a period of almost 30 years. Jorge Bergoglio began writing them eight months after he was ordained auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires; the period includes his 15 years as archbishop of Buenos Aires during a turbulent period in Argentina’s political life, his being made cardinal by St. John Paul II in February 2001 the conclaves of the 2005 and 2013 and almost 12 years of his pontificate.. Vatican observers expect that there will be immense interest in seeing what he chooses to mention in this diary.

While Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI gave strict instructions to destroy their private papers on their death—even though their wishes seem not to have been fully respected—Pope Francis told the Spanish journalist Javier Martinez Brocal in an interview for the book El Sucesor (published in 2024) that he himself intended to destroy his most intimate notes, instead of leaving that task to others. One may therefore conclude that what Cardinal Fernández publishes in the book are notes that Pope Francis actually wanted to be made public.

The Vatican said the book will be published in five languages simultaneously on Nov. 24 and distributed in 94 countries. 

The Private Diary of Pope Francis is the title of the 160-page book in English that Image will publish. The same publishing house is also handling the release of the Spanish and Portuguese editions. In its press release for the English edition, Penguin Random House says the book offers “an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of Pope Francis through the personal diary he kept during his years in the Vatican, expressing his most intimate hopes and fears, struggles and prayers.”

“For anyone who has wanted to understand Pope Francis, both as a spiritual leader and a fellow human being on the mysterious journey of life, his diary is a gift and essential reading,” the publisher said.

Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.