Vatican History

The enduring influence of the Catholic Church has many sources, but in the first half of the 19th century, the foundations upon which the church had rested were shaken. For many people, liberalism in the guise of liberty, equality, and fraternity was the quintessence of the evils that shook those foundations. At the Vatican Council of 1869-1870, the church made an effort to set things right by defining the doctrine of papal infallibility. Author John W. O'Malley draws us into the bitter controversies over papal infallibility that at one point seemed destined to rend the church in two.

In this disturbing exposé, journalist Paul L. Williams describes a secret alliance forged at the close of World War II by the CIA, the Sicilian and US mafias, and the Vatican to thwart the possibility of a Communist invasion of Europe. Williams presents evidence suggesting the existence, in many European countries, of "stay-behind" units consisting of 5,000 to 15,000 military operatives.

A groundbreaking dive into the role psychedelics have played in the origins of Western civilization, and the real-life quest for the Holy Grail that could shake the Church to its foundations.

In this popular introduction to church history, now in its third edition, Mark Noll isolates key events that provide a framework for understanding the history of Christianity. The book presents Christianity as a worldwide phenomenon rather than just a Western experience. Students in academic settings and church adult education contexts will benefit from this one-semester survey of Christian history.

It is one of the most ancient, arcane, and to some, embarrassing rites of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet the number of priests in Italy trained as exorcists has risen tenfold over the past decade - and they are still unable to keep up with the skyrocketing demand for their services. Award-winning foreign correspondent Tracy Wilkinson reveals that "devil detox", as some call it, is a booming industry, complete with motivational speakers, international conventions, and plenty of controversy.

Moved by his mother's death and his Irish Catholic family's complicated history with the church, Timothy Egan decided to follow in the footsteps of centuries of seekers to force a reckoning with his own beliefs. He embarked on a thousand-mile pilgrimage through the theological cradle of Christianity, exploring one of the biggest stories of our time: the collapse of religion in the world that it created. The goal: walking to St. Peter's Square, in hopes of meeting the galvanizing pope who is struggling to hold together the church through the worst crisis in half a millennium.

Already infamous for the arbitrary, paranoid persecution of its own citizens throughout much of the 20th century, the Soviet Union - as is revealed in John Koeher’s revelatory, eye-opening exposé - also waged a vicious espionage campaign against the Catholic Church and its followers. From the persecution of local priests to an assassination order against Pope John Paul II, the KGB viewed Catholicism as a threat to stability in Eastern Europe and treated the church as an enemy of the State. Lifetime journalist and former U.S. Army Intelligence Officer John Koehler has written the definitive book on this startling history.

The Vatican is a landlocked independent city state and enclave in Rome, Italy. The Vatican City State, also called the Vatican, acquired independence from Italy in the year 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a different terrain under the Holy See's "full ownership, special rule, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction", which makes sure the city state's temporal, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. This is one of the world’s most unique states/countries, something that is definitely worth understanding.

Based on previously undisclosed archival materials, this book tells the fascinating, untold, and troubling story of an anti-Protestant campaign in Italy that lasted longer, consumed more clerical energy and cultural space, and generated far more literature than the war against Italy's Jewish population.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), or Vatican II, is arguably the most significant event in the life of the Catholic Church since the Reformation. The Council initiated, intentionally or not, profound changes not simply within Catholic theology, but in the religious, social, and moral lives of the world's billion Catholics. It also reconfigured, intellectually and practically, the Church's engagements with those outside of it—most obviously with regard to other religions.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was the most important Catholic event in the past five hundred years. Yet sixty years after its opening on October 11, 1962, its meaning remains sharply contested and its promise unfulfilled. In To Sanctify the World, George Weigel explains the necessity of Vatican II and explores the continuing relevance of its teaching in a world seeking a deeper experience of freedom than personal willfulness.

Tasked with choosing a pontiff to replace a previous incumbent (Paul IV) whose reign was marked by repression and brutality, and faced with the growing challenge of the Protestant Reformation, the conclave faced a critically important decision for the future of the Roman Catholic Church and was faction-ridden even by the standards of such polarised gatherings. France and Spain, both looking to extend their power in Italy and beyond, had very different ideas of who the new pope should be, as did the Italian cardinals.

Pope John Paul II, as part of his effort to improve Catholic-Jewish relations, himself called for a clear-eyed historical investigation into any possible link between the Church and the Holocaust. An important sign of his commitment was the decision to allow the distinguished historian David I. Kertzer, a specialist in Italian history, to be one of the first scholars given access to long-sealed Vatican archives. The result is a book filled with shocking revelations.

In 1939, a team of workers beneath the Vatican unearthed an early Christian grave. This surprising discovery launched a secret quest that would last decades a quest to discover the long-lost burial place of the Apostle Peter. From earliest times, Christian tradition held that Peter, a lowly fisherman from Galilee, whom Christ made leader of his church was executed in Rome by Emperor Nero and buried on Vatican Hill. But his tomb had been lost to history. Now, funded anonymously by a wealthy American, a small army of workers embarked on the dig of a lifetime.

Witness to Hope is the authoritative biography of one of the singular figures - some might argue the singular figure - of our time. With unprecedented cooperation from John Paul II and the people who knew and worked with him throughout his life, George Weigel offers a groundbreaking portrait of the Pope as a man, a thinker, and a leader whose religious convictions defined a new approach to world politics - and changed the course of history.

Los cuervos del Vaticano revela una historia de mayordomos traidores, filtraciones de documentos, comisiones secretas de investigación, del servicio de espionaje y contraespionaje del Vaticano, de prelados que denuncian la corrupción y que son alejados de inmediato de San Pedro, lavado de dinero, altos miembros de la mafia siciliana, un complot para asesinar al papa, una adolescente desaparecida y supuestamente utilizada como esclava sexual, una guerra entre periodistas y directivos de la prensa católica, un presidente del IOR cesado y con miedo a ser asesinado.

Every year, millions visit a stunning circuit board city starring gorgeous collections of interconnected rectangular buildings and charming houses in shades of beige, sandy-brown, and other earthy tones. Zoom in a little closer, and one can see the Renaissance-style exterior of its buildings and the exquisite detail captured in the statues mounted on the tops of its palaces and cathedrals.

The Roman Curia is the central body for the administration of the Roman Catholic Church. Its structure and organization is governed by Praedicate Evangelium, a new law issued by Pope Francis in 2022. The nature of the Curia is both confusing to many and vitally important for the administration of the Church and the Vatican.

From a best-selling author with unprecedented access to Pope Francis, an investigative look at the recent financial scandals at the highest levels of the Vatican. A veritable war is waging in the church: On one side there is Pope Francis' strong message for one church of the poor and all; on the other there is the old Curia, with its endless enemies, and the old and new lobbies struggling to preserve their not-so-Christian privileges.

Cuando, en junio de 2013, Edward Snowden reveló que la Agencia de Seguridad Nacional había interceptado a millones de personas, incluyendo varios jefes de Estado y de Gobierno, se descubrió que no se había escapado de espionaje, ni siquiera Jorge Mario Bergoglio o los cardenales que habían elegido al nuevo Papa.