Synopsis
Explores the history of Catholicism, discussing topics including its role in the history of Western Europe, the Renaissance, mysticism, secularization, and Vatican Council II.
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Reviews
Grade 7-10-Rather than describing doctrine, ritual, symbolic expression, or other aspects of Catholicism, Ries covers the history of the Church. Unfortunately, in this partisan account, it is seen as an institution that has never made a mistake, but only struggled valiantly against external forces. Readers are told that the goal of the medieval church was the "enhancement of civilization," that it was a victim of feudal lords, and no mention is made of its own political-economic power. Ries does not speak of the Church's persecution of Jews; indeed, he states that when "all" secular nations expelled Jews, they found "refuge only in the Papal States." The Inquisition was "a tribunal created to supervise matters of faith and to lead people back to the Church"; no mention is made of any fatal side effects. The author credits the Church as "the prime mover" behind the "scientific fervor" of universities. In Africa and South America, the "collapse of local cults [apparently of their own accord] allowed the rapid conversion to Christianity-." Luther's reformation comes as a surprise, preceded by no hint of the sale of indulgences, clerical absenteeism, or incompetence. Pius XII's political stance toward the Nazis is passed over, and the book ends on an uplifting note with the Second Vatican Council-in 1965. It's hardly surprising that in Ries's distorted world women (and the Church in Asia and Africa) are virtually absent. This polemical work is poorly translated and oddly illustrated. It is difficult to imagine its target audience.
Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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