Boston Globe journalist and Catholic commentator Michael O’Loughlin opens a wonderful window into the heart and revolutionary mission of Pope Francis by examining his extensive and revelatory use of social media—published to coincide with the pontiff’s visit to the United States in September 2015.

Michael O’Loughlin uses Pope Francis’s almost daily “tweets” to his 21 million followers to explain why this pope has captured the world’s imagination and to explore his strategy and vision for the Catholic Church. Grouped by the Pope’s most pressing concerns—forgiveness, mercy, injustice, poverty, war, joy, the environment, and more—The Tweetable Pope uses Francis’ pithy 140-character (or fewer) missives as a prism to view the biographical, historical, and spiritual context of his messages and how each is part of a larger vision.

O’Loughlin contends that these seemingly simple communications provide a direct line to the Pope’s heart, illuminating a peaceful, loving, and courageous visionary committed to restoring the church to the original Christian tenets of its founder, Jesus Christ—love, mercy, grace, and compassion—and reshaping it as a force for change to help the most needy. A thoughtful and enlightening examination of how the pope is using this exciting and fascinating new medium to communicate directly to his flock, The Tweetable Pope is an inspiring and moving testimony of how we, too, can be more centered on what matters most to God.

Sociology of Religion