Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes

Rating:
Summary: Unique
Review: I do like the extrem high quality of this book. It is difficult.

Rating:
Summary: Only If You Want to Understand the Papacy
Review: Only to get a real understanding should you read this book. If you want to love all popes as if they were perfect, or hate them all as if they were a blight upon their eras, give this book an extra wide berth. Mr. Coulombe explains at the start his approach: "If we are to be fair with them, the only evaluation we can make of each of them is whether they did well by the Church's own lights. If, in pursuit of this, many have done things that outrage our sensibilities, it should be bourne in mind that our society allows many things that would have done the same for them." One fact that strikes this reader is the threat of violence that hung over most of the popes. It is one thing to have a general notion that the first few centuries were dangerous for anyone holding the Keys of St. Peter. But I, at least, was not prepared for the spectacle, as I read each short (2-3 pages, on average) biography of the popes (with the anti-popes thrown in as a bonus). The overwhelming majority were either killed, or forced to flee Rome to avoid that fate. The worst were very bad indeed, and even the best were constantly thwarted in efforts such as reunion with the Eastern Church. Mr. Coulombe conveys much in a few words. St. Puis X (1903-14) struggled with Modernism. Well, how is Mr. Coulombe to sum up the thought of the pope's adversaries? "Doctrinal formulations are, for the Modernist, not true, per se, but symbolic of some greater truth--whatever that means." Each pope gets a summation--here is a Neapolitan, Paul IV (1555-59): "Due to his economical ways and increasingly morose demeanor, he was not excessively mourned by the Romans." This is a wonderful, and rigorouly honest, book.

Rating:
Summary: Only If You Want to Understand the Papacy
Review: Only to get a real understanding should you read this book. If you want to love all popes as if they were perfect, or hate them all as if they were a blight upon their eras, give this book an extra wide berth. Mr. Coulombe explains at the start his approach: "If we are to be fair with them, the only evaluation we can make of each of them is whether they did well by the Church's own lights. If, in pursuit of this, many have done things that outrage our sensibilities, it should be bourne in mind that our society allows many things that would have done the same for them." One fact that strikes this reader is the threat of violence that hung over most of the popes. It is one thing to have a general notion that the first few centuries were dangerous for anyone holding the Keys of St. Peter. But I, at least, was not prepared for the spectacle, as I read each short (2-3 pages, on average) biography of the popes (with the anti-popes thrown in as a bonus). The overwhelming majority were either killed, or forced to flee Rome to avoid that fate. The worst were very bad indeed, and even the best were constantly thwarted in efforts such as reunion with the Eastern Church. Mr. Coulombe conveys much in a few words. St. Puis X (1903-14) struggled with Modernism. Well, how is Mr. Coulombe to sum up the thought of the pope's adversaries? "Doctrinal formulations are, for the Modernist, not true, per se, but symbolic of some greater truth--whatever that means." Each pope gets a summation--here is a Neapolitan, Paul IV (1555-59): "Due to his economical ways and increasingly morose demeanor, he was not excessively mourned by the Romans." This is a wonderful, and rigorouly honest, book.