The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities, and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church

Summary

A revealing insidelook at one of the world’s most powerful and mysterious institutions

For more than twenty-five years John Thavis held one of themost fascinating journalistic jobs in the world: reporting on the innerworkings of the Vatican. His daily exposure to the power, politics, and personalitiesin the seat of Roman Catholicism gave him a unique, behind-the-scenesperspective on an institution that is far less monolithic and unified than itfirst appears. Thavis reveals Vatican City as a place where Curia cardinalsfight private wars, scandals threaten to undermine papal authority, andreverence for the past is continually upended by the practical considerationsof modern life.

Thavis takes listeners from a bell tower high above St.Peter’s to the depths of the basilica and the saint’s burial place, from thepoliticking surrounding the election of a new pope and the ever-growing sexualabuse scandals around the world to controversies about the Vatican’s stand oncontraception and more.

Perceptive,sharply written, and witty, The Vatican Diaries will appeal not only toCatholics—lapsed as well as devout—but to anyone interested in internationaldiplomacy and the role of religion in an increasingly secularized world.