3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Outstanding History!, September 7, 2004
This review is from: Pontiffs: Popes Who Shaped History (Paperback)
When I began reading "Pontiffs: Popes Who Shaped History" I was expecting a book which would be interesting and informative. It did not take me long to realize that I had seriously underestimated it. This book is outstanding! This book introduced me to Popes about whom I knew little or nothing and told me a lot about others with whom I had some familiarity. What I appreciate most about this book is its ability to place facts, of which I had previously heard, in their context or in a light of which I had never thought.
Fr. Hughes features eleven Popes from St. Peter to Pope John XXIII. Not all of these seem to be among Fr. Hughes' favorites, nor did they always affect history in a positive manner, but each did leave their marks on the course of history. St. Peter preserved the Church in the early years after the Resurrection. St. Leo The Great (440-61) defended the Church and Rome from the onslaught of the Barbarians while guiding it through the collapse of the Empire in the West. St. Gregory The Great (590-604) sponsored missionary outreach and left a canon which helped define orthodoxy. Gregory VII (1073-85) tested his strength against that of Medieval Monarchs, before Innocent III (1198-1216) defended the Church from heresy, preached Crusades and approved the rise of the great Mendicant orders of the Church. Boniface VIII (1294-1303) also sparred with monarchs and revised canon law. The response of Leo X (1513-21) to the challenges of Martin Luther and others contributed to the split of Christendom. Pius V (1566-72) inspired the defense of Christendom form the Turks, while his response to Protestantism, particularly in the person of Elizabeth I of England, weakened Christian solidarity. Pius VII lead the Church through the Napoleonic era and related upheavals, giving the Church advances and setbacks, while altering the balance between national Churches and the Papacy. Leo XIII (1878-1903) turned the Church to face the "Social Question" while failing to understand the changing political forces of his day. John XIII intervened in great power crises and called Vatican II, which lead to so many reforms within the Church.
If this book seems to lack a consistent theme, it is because history is inconsistent. Fr. Hughes does not choose a theme and then fit the characters into it. He tells the story of each of these historically significant Pontiffs. They were different men facing different challenges. They met success and failure in varying proportions. They sometimes advanced the Church and civilization, and at other times inflicted grievous and long standing wounds. They represent no consistent path of advancement.
I learned the context of things that already knew. One professor had told me that, at the time of the Great Schism, Popes were called "Vicars of Peter" and suggested that readoption of that title might be a step toward reunification of the two great branches of Catholicism. Fr. Hughes explains the importance of the identification of the Popes with St. Peter and the adoption of the term "Vicar of Christ" by Innocent III. I had always heard of the Jesuits' oath of loyalty to the Pope, but this book presented it as arising in a time during which many clergy identified more with their monarchs than with the Papacy. The precedent of Popes being kidnapped and transported over Europe, including Pius VII by Napoleon, places Pius XII's situation during World War II in an entirely different light than what we would think of today. There is also just plain trivia, such as the Dominican habit of Pius V becoming the precedent for the white papal habit of modern times.
All of these insights are expressed in very direct, clear prose. This book contains none of the difficult, boring writing style often found in scholarly works. This book is written in a style readily understandable by a wide spectrum of the reading public. For anyone with an interest in the history of the Church and how the Western World got to where it is today, this book is one to read.
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1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
An Inadequate Exploration Of The Central Thesis, March 26, 2002
This review is from: Pontiffs: Popes Who Shaped History (Paperback)
There are few books more disappointing than a history book that doesn't adequately explore its thesis. Such is the case with Pontiffs. Hughes mentions in his introduction that he selected popes who "...made a difference." He then goes on to profile eleven pontiffs, from the obvious (St. Peter and Gregory the Great) to the more controversial (Pius VII and Leo X). However, these profiles barely, if ever, explain the reasons why these popes "made a difference." As a result, one finishes the book wondering why Hughes chose these eleven instead of others who have made equally powerful impacts on the papacy.
Pontiffs is good as an introduction to the accomplishments and failures of the discussed popes. If read on that level alone, it serves as a handy, easy to read primer on their lives. But, the book advertises itself as an exploration of popes who "made a difference" in the Church. By failing to explore the thesis more fully, Hughes ends up diminishing his power of his subject.
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