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S'està carregant… Pontifex Maximus: A Short History of the Popesde Christopher Lascelles
   Cap No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra.  TedWitham | Oct 16, 2017 |  Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
"Lascelles has achieved the seemingly impossible: a concise and highly readable history of Catholic Popes that manages to be extremely entertaining and informative at the same time." - Gerald Posner, author of God's Bankers "A brilliant book on a number of different levels. Lascelles has an engaging prose style and an amazing eye for detail and apposite anecdote. Surely only purblind Catholic zelanti will object to this outstanding analysis." - Frank McLynn, author of Genghis Khan, Napoleon and 1066 "Lascelles has taken an overwhelming subject, and not been overwhelmed by it in any way. A highly enjoyable read." - Paul Strathern, author of The Medici "Pontifex Maximus is a subtle and convincing explanation of how the successors of an impoverished fisherman from Galilee became a globally powerful monarch - all without getting lost in the bewildering historical weeds. Lascelles writes with both verve and humor; once started it's hard to put down." - Lars Brownworth, author of The Normans and The Sea Wolves For many people, the popes are an irrelevance: if they consider them at all, it may be as harmless old men who preach obscure sermons in Latin. But the history of the popes is far from bland. On the contrary, it is occasionally so bizarre as to stretch credulity. Popes have led papal armies, fled in disguise, fathered children (including future popes), and authorised torture. They have been captured, assaulted and murdered. While many have been admired, some have been hated to such a degree that their funeral processions have been disrupted and statues of them torn down after their deaths. Many have been the enemies of freedom and progress - divisive rather than unifying figures. In a fascinating read for Catholics and non-Catholics alike, Christopher Lascelles examines the history of the popes through the ages, laying bare the extent to which many of them fell so very short of the Christian ideals they supposedly represented. He explains how it was that, professing to follow a man who said 'My kingdom is not of this world' and 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth', they nevertheless became heads of a rich state that owned more land in Europe than any king, relying on foreign military aid to keep power; and how pride, greed and corruption became commonplace in an institution founded on love, faith and forgiveness. This book is aimed at the general reader who is short on time and seeks an accessible overview unencumbered by ecclesiastical jargon and scholarly controversies. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
Autor de LibraryThingChristopher Lascelles és un autor/a de LibraryThing, un autor/a que afegeix la seva biblioteca personal a LibraryThing. Debats actualsCapCobertes populars 
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Two girls, my best students, were aghast. ‘But the Pope must live in Rome,’ they said. I knew that these students were Roman Catholics, so I suggested they should check the story out with the nuns that visited the school. Next lesson, they returned with an ‘official’ list of Popes, and were intrigued that this list did show that Clement V, Innocent VI, John XXII and Urban V, all ‘proper’ Popes established their Curia in Avignon.
Rome has good reason to police papal history. The papacy has been a fallible institution, and Rome would prefer an official list that presents the story that God was working through sinful men.
Christopher Lascelles’ new book, Pontifex Maximus, is not the story that Rome prefers. Lascelles is the author of A Short History of the World, and in both books, he gives evidence-based history. The style is journalistic and accessible, but it is not flattering to the papacy.
Popes are shown to be quarrelsome, ambitious and self-serving. Some rode at the head of papal armies. Some sponsored their children and nephews into rich positions as Cardinals or Archbishop. Some, like Pius XI (1922-1939), supported Mussolini and was even implicated in the rounding up of Jews. Lascelles shows how Pius XI naively believed Mussolini was a good Catholic and promised favourable treatment for the Church. Once trapped into the deal, he continued to believe that the advantages to the Church outweighed the evils of Italian Fascism.
Lascelles rightly makes the Gospel of Jesus the standard by which he judges Popes. He identifies three only that lived the Gospel and had the opportunity to reform the Church – Gregory I the Great being the prime example. Gregory refused to accept the title of Universal Bishop, and exemplified Christian values as he saved Rome from a series of disasters.
He believes that the new Pope Francis may also serve the Gospel well.
There were times when I felt that Lascelles was unduly critical. For example, he criticises the political power that Innocent III (1198-1216) amassed for himself, without showing the good for the Gospel that he also achieved.
Overall, this is an entertaining and informative run-through of the history of the papacy. I considered myself reasonably well-informed and learned many new things in the reading. Above all, Lascelles makes the story of the papacy interesting.
It is clearly written for a general audience, for readers who would rather not be fobbed off by pious propaganda. I doubt there would be teachers brave enough to set it as a text in Catholic schools or tertiary institutions, but it would be a rich resource for senior students.
In all, to cram so much history into such an accessible book is a praiseworthy achievement. (