Lives of the Popes : The Pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II - Softcover

McBrien, Richard P.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060653043 ISBN 13: 9780060653040

Publisher: HarperOne, 2000

Synopsis

Lives of the Pope is the most thorough, vivid, and fascinating history of the papacy available. Renowned Catholic commentator Richard McBrien offers a fresh, intelligent look at each of the 262 popes, including:-The Apostle Peter, the first pope, in his singular role as Vicar of ChristFormosus, the pope whose corpse was exhumed, dressed in full vestments, and subjected to a mock trial for papal misdeedsBoniface, elected pope after having been defrocked twice for immoralityJohn XXIII, perhaps the most beloved pope in all of historyLives of the Popes provides chronologically arranged biographies of the pontiffs, revealing the full sweep of the papacy. Each entry contains essential information on a pontiff’s life, major writings, controversies, and deeds both great and evil. McBrien eloquently and powerfully brings to life the unique stories of the popes and reveals how they transformed Christianity and the world.John Paul II, the present Bishop of Rome

About this title

About the Author

Richard P. McBrien is Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Educated at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he has also served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. A leading authority on Catholicism, he is the bestselling author of Catholicism, Lives of the Popes, and Lives of the Saints, as well as the general editor of The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism. Most recently a consultant for ABC News, McBrien offers regular commentary on all the major television networks. He is also a prizewinning syndicated columnist in the Catholic press.

From Library Journal

Reviewing 262 popes, McBrien (theology, Univ. of Notre Dame) expands the sketches in his Encyclopedia of Catholicism (LJ 6/1/95) and provides broad historical and theological contexts for each profile, relying on the many-editioned Liber Pontificalis and The Oxford Dictionary of Popes (1986), as well as other scholarly works. McBrien addresses the nonspecialist reader and groups his entries into eight historical periods with distinctive theological and pastoral interpretations. His approach is down to earth and critical, distinguishing pious legend from known fact. The well-written sketches vary from a paragraph to several pages, ranging from Peter to John Paul II. Supplementary appendixes and tables enhance the book for reference as well as circulating use. Recommended for academic and public libraries. [Note: Eamon Duffy's Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes (Yale Univ.) and Peter Maxwell-Stuart's Chronicle of the Popes (Thames & Hudson) are also due in November.]?Anna M. Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., N.Y.
-?Anna M. Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0060653043
• ISBN 13: 9780060653040
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 528