Jorge Mario Bergoglio comes across as a warm and hospitable man, making homely references to Argentine comic books El Tony and Mafalda. Likewise Skorka, but it's the rabbi who seems more prepared to initiate potentially crunchy dialogue or to say "you have touched on a sensitive topic," meaning "let's stay there for a minute." Discussing the Holocaust, Skorka notes: "I have always said that in the death camps, they did not just kill six million Jews, but they killed Jesus six million times over. That is because many of Jesus's ideas and his message were Jewish since he carried the message of the Prophets." Bergoglio acknowledges the shared ground: "This is a very Christian belief: Jesus is in every suffering person." Skorka, very respectfully, from a distance, then asks: "Monsignor, what do you think about how the Church acted at the time?" Bergoglio gives an on-the-one-hand-this, on-the-other-hand-that reply before saying: "Who knows if we could have done something more?" Skorka won't let it go: "That's the question, Monsignor. Could it have done more?"

When Bergoglio equivocates, the reader remembers his Jesuit training, but at times in On Heaven and Earth it's hard to tell what's mental reservation and what's characteristic shyness. Both stand him in good stead when it comes to maintaining the necessary reserve in talking across difference with the world's media ready to pounce. As has already been seen with a papal homily concerning the doctrine of salvation, critics of the Vatican are quick to misinterpret when given the room. If the liberal press is apt to see the straightforward Pray For Me as a PR exercise on behalf of the new Pope, On Heaven and Earth may let us know more about Pope Francis and where he stands, but it will keep critics circling a while yet.