Customer Reviews

Lives of the Popes - reissue: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Very well-written and easy to read. The author writes from his more "liberal" point-of-view. So, more "conservative" Catholics will not like his opinions. However, those who accept the Church as she defined herself via Vatican II will enjoy this book. One does not have to read straight through. One can flip around and read about individual popes. One can read the author's top ten lists. His top outstanding pope for the modern era is Pope John XXIII. If you disagree with that, then you probably should not read this book.

Few institutions endure for two thousand years of falling and rising empires and religions; famine, pestilence, and plenty; wars and natural disasters; exploration and discovery; slavery and abolition; advances and abuse in science, medicine and technology -- in short, two millennia of human folly and accomplishment.

The Papacy not only spans this period: it contributes a unique, vital history. This work (which I read in hardcover in 1997 and to which I still refer) is a remarkable contribution to that history. Patriarchs good and bad (by contemporary and current standards) are profiled with brief biographies in chronological order from Peter to John Paul II. Juxtaposition allows the reader to appreciate the tapestry of major issues each pope faced (doctrinal, liturgical, political, spiritual/temporal, secular, etc), as well as the civil context. It easily affords an independent view of relevant prelates when reading other history.

Less well known episodes [the exhumation, trial, conviction, and punishment of Pope Formosus's nine-month old corpse by Pope Stephen VI/VII in the `Cadaver Synod' January 897; Alexander VI's world division and his fateful 1503 dinner, Jullius II's military campaigns while funding the Sistine Chapel with indulgences, etc] are on the record.

The text includes a useful episodic time line, as well as appendices on papal elections and removals, ratings, shortest/longest reigns, encyclicals, and anti popes.

I respect (remembering my Latin responses 40+years after serving) the view of some reviewers who accuse the author for being too `pro-Vatican II,' but suggest that has little to do with this text.

This work documents a vital, accessible history: highly recommended.

Richard McBrien offers thumbnail sketches of the lives of the popes. He makes no bones about his biases and seems to believe that the reforms of Vatican II was left unfulfilled. McBrien offers some fascinating details on some long forgotten popes though he does rush over some very important popes of the Middle Ages (Sylvester II comes to mind). When he reaches the modern era, McBrien is upfront with his biases which is appreciated even when the reader disagrees with the author. He offers some needed appreciation for Benedict XV, pours a bit too much disdain for St. Pius X and rightfully offers praise for John XXIII. His account on the important tenure of Pius XII is muddled as is his quick sketch of the controversy surrounding his role during World War Two. McBrien clearly undervalues John Paul II's papacy. McBrien is not subtle about his hopes either. In the first edition, he continued to hammer home that papal conclaves rarely elect a new pope who is like the old one. One can only imagine what he thinks of Benedict XVI. Still, the book is useful but know what you are getting into in terms of the author's viewpoints.

This book has many useful facts and anecdotes to present to the reader yet there is something about the author's use of language that casts a negative pall over the stories of the popes. For example, when the author recounts the stories of martyrdom for the very early popes instead of stating that there is no available corroborating accounts of the martyr stories and that the earliest corroborated accounts start to occur in the later second and third centuries the author phrases it in words like this "There is no evidence to support the legend that XXXXX died a martyr".

Nevertheless the author does the Church and the world a service in presenting in short readable form accounts of the lives of the popes through the centuries. So I commend the book to the reading public on the basis of the factual information presented in it but not for its tone when describing doubtful stories about the popes.

The books is a paperback that opens flat, it is not too thick so the binding will probably last fairly well if it is handled carefully. The paper is slightly yellowish, the print is black. There is no bleed through on the pages so reading is pleasurable. The font used is about 10 point so if you have poor eyesight you'll need your glasses. On the whole it is well produced.

This review applies to ISBN 139780060878078

Fr.Mcbrien is a celebrated academic. His Theology is more than suspect however. Thus a history of the successors of St. Peter ends up becoming a college course on why the Catholic Church only began with Vatican 2. This book was therefore disappointing and worse promotes contempt on Great Popes such as the Saintly Pius X. Catholics and others searching for a history of Popes would be better served elswhere.

I would give this book no stars if possible. It was utter crap. It was essentially a who's-who among the Popes of liberal Catholicism. From calling Pius X an intemperate, mean-spirited tyrant that set the Church back "for half a century" to calling John XXIII the most beloved Pope in history, and his pontificate of the greatest importance since that of St. Peter himself. I have to question the scholarship of any "Catholic" author impugning the only canonized Holy Father of the last century while glorifying the one that called the only unnecessary Council in history and almost single-handedly tried to tear the Latin Church down brick by brick, but I suppose I should expect nothing less from the Theology Department of Notre Dame.

St. Pius X, ora pro nobis

This is a fantastic book. McBrien does an excellent job in describing every Pontiff, from Peter the Apostle to Benedict XVI. This is really a fantastic read for anyone interested in learning about the Popes.