During his visit to the Salon du livre de Montréal last fall, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt outlined several of his plans for La Presse, including a project for a book on music, as well as a “travel diary” – he had just met Pope Francis at the Vatican, at the latter’s invitation.

Said notebook and the head of the Catholic Church had in fact a link: The challenge of Jerusalem, where the writer recounts his pilgrimages to the Holy Land, in the footsteps of Jesus and his apostles, while evoking introspective journeys on his faith, once as deflated as a flat tire, now proudly claimed.

Throughout his journey, he evokes how each stage resonates (or dissonates) with his beliefs, multiplying discoveries and dialogues, with other pilgrims as well as with himself. For faith does not shield him from doubt; admitting that certain rites, places or faithful of the Christian nebula inspire him rather mistrust and skepticism. Also, from the first chapters he raises the question of his irreversible investment in the Catholic bath, his intellectual foundations resting rather on a Cartesian vision of the world.

How will Quebecers, who have generally distanced themselves from steeples, receive this work imbued with Christian spirituality, whose afterword is signed by the hand of the pope in person? With his gaze of lucidity and wonder, Schmitt could possibly capture the attention of hardened atheists; if they keep in mind that the writer does not seek to push others to believe, but to expose and illuminate the roots of his faith, in the light of this journey guided by his biblical compass.