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| 2. |  | |
The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism
| | With 1 billion Catholics in the world -- and 57 million in the United States alone -- Catholicism is the world's most familiar religion. Yet many facets of this varied and dynamic tradition remain unknown or poorly understood. Now <i>The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism</i> offers a one-volume comprehensive and authoritative guide to the people, doctrines, history, worship, art, spirituality, literature, theological developments, and changes that have shaped the Church over nearly two millennia.</p>Led by general editor Richard P. McBrien, bestselling author of <i>Catholicism,</i> an editorial team drawn almost entirely from the University of Notre Dame has collected more than 4,200 entries written by 280 leading experts from around the world and across the theological spectrum, including Benedict Ashley, Gerald O'Collins, Sandra B. Schneiders, Hans K?ng, Walter H. Principe, Elizabeth Johnson, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Virgilio Elizondo, Catherine Mowry LaCugna, Robert F. Taft, Peter Hebblethwaite, Dermot A. Lane, Francis A. Sullivan, Robert F. Trisco, and John Strynkowski. A concise reference for understanding Catholic terms such as <i>vigil light</i> and <i>maniple, The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism</i> also offers superb feature-length entries on subjects ranging from the seven sacraments, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Peter, Paul, Augustine, and Aquinas to prayer and Christian spirituality, Catholicism in the United States, women in the Church, and Vatican II.</p>Treating Catholicism as a unique tradition, community, and way of life, the encyclopedia defines and describes topics such as Eastern Catholicism, canon law, devotions, religious orders and lay organizations, and saints, angels, and archangels. Also included are tables of the liturgical calendar, ecumenical councils, and a list of all the popes, complete with a brief biography of each.</p>A convenient and reliable source of information regarding every aspect of Catholicism, past and present, <i>The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism</i> covers the controversy and dissent within the Church as well as its teachings and beliefs, providing a balanced and unparalleled resource for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Catholic life.</p> | |
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God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church
| | <p>George Weigel's bestselling biography of Pope John Paul II, <i>Witness to Hope</i>, set the standard by which all portraits of the modern papacy are now measured. With <i>God's Choice</i>, he gives us an extraordinary chronicle of the rise of Pope Benedict XVI as well as an unflinching view of the Catholic Church at the dawn of a new era.</p> <p>When John Paul II lapsed into illness for the last time, people flocked from all over the world to pray outside his apartment. He had become a father figure to millions in a world bereft of strong paternal examples, and those millions now felt orphaned. After more than twenty-six years of John Paul II's guidance, the Catholic Church is entering a new age, with its bedrock traditions intact but with pressing questions to address in a rapidly changing world. Beginning with the story of John Paul's final months, <i>God's Choice</i> offers a remarkable inside account of the conclave that produced Benedict XVI as the next pope, drawing on George Weigel's unrivaled access to this complex event.</p> <p>Weigel also incisively surveys the current state of the Church around the world: its thriving populations in Africa, Latin America, and parts of the post-communist world; its collapse in western Europe; its continued struggles in Asia; and the vibrancy of many aspects of Catholic life in the United States, even as the Church in America struggles to overcome its recent experience of scandal.</p> <p>Reflecting on John Paul II's greatness, drawing on firsthand interviews to paint an intimate portrait of the new Pope, and boldly assessing the Church's current condition, <i>God's Choice</i> is an invaluable book for anyone seeking to understand the Catholic future and the larger human future the Church will help to shape.</p> | |
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The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism
| | <p>From the struggles of the very first Christians to the challenges and scandals of today, the Catholic Church has wrestled with how to organize itself, express its beliefs, and nurture its members. The Church has grown from a handful of disciples in the first century to over one billion members in the twenty-first, resulting in profound changes that demand a theological response. In this sweeping history, renowned scholar Richard McBrien reveals the evolution of the Church's relationship to the divine, its leadership of the faithful, and its role as a global religion. <i>The Church</i> answers the questions raised by this extraordinary history, including:</p> <ul> <p><li>Where did the idea of the pope's infallibility come from</li></p> <p><li>Why are priests celibate and women barred from the priesthood</li></p> <p><li>What inspired the Inquisition</li></p> <p><li>What was the position of the Catholic Church on Hitler's policies in World War II</li></p> <p><li>What is the Church's relationship to Islam</li></p> <p><li>How will the growth of the Church in South America, Africa, and Asia shape its future</li></p> </ul> <p>McBrien helps the reader understand the evolution of the Catholic Church's understanding of itself through the centuries, its leadership, and its relationship to national governments and world religions. From Jesus's apostle Peter to Pope Benedict XVI, <i>The Church</i> explains in layperson's terms the evolution of the Catholic Church, its power, its scope, its theology, and its influence.</p> | |
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Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope
| | <blockquote> <p> "We have just elected a female pope." <br> Cardinal Alessandro Bichi, 1644 </p> </blockquote> <p> Today's Roman Catholic Church firmly states that women must be excluded from church leadership positions, but they neglect to mention that for over a decade in the seventeenth century a woman unofficially, but openly, ran the Vatican. Now, Eleanor Herman, author of <i>Sex with the Queen</i>, exposes one of the church's deepest secrets, laying bare facts that have been concealed for 350 years. </p> <p> Beginning in 1644 and for eleven years after, Olimpia Maidalchini, sister-in-law and reputed mistress of the indecisive Pope Innocent X, directed Vatican business, appointed cardinals, negotiated with foreign ambassadors, and helped herself to a heaping portion of the Papal State's treasury. Unlike the ninth century's Pope Joan, whose life is shrouded in mystery, Olimpia's story is documented in thousands of letters, news sheets, and diplomatic dispatches. </p> <p> Knowing of Pope Innocent's absolute dependence on his sister-in-law, Cardinal Alessandro Bichi angrily declared on the day of Innocent's election, "We have just elected a female pope." Mischievous Romans hung banners in churches calling her Pope Olimpia I. Cardinal Sforza Pallavicino bewailed the "monstrous power of a woman in the Vatican." One contemporary wrote that women might as well become priests, since one of them was already pope. </p> <p> Born in modest circumstances, Olimpia was almost forced into a convent at the age of fifteen due to the lack of a dowry. She used deceit to escape, and vowed never to be poor and powerless again. Throughout her life, Olimpia exacted excruciating vengeance on anyone who tried to lock her up or curb her power. But her grisly revenge on the pope who loved her would be reserved for after his death. . . . </p> <p> Seventeenth-century Rome boasted the world's most glorious art and glittering pageants but also suffered from famine, floods, swarms of locusts, and bubonic plague. Olimpia's world was kleptocratic; everyone from the lowliest servant up to the pope's august relatives unblushingly stole as much as they possibly could. Nepotism was rampant, and popes gave away huge sums and principalities to their nephews instead of helping the poor. Dead pontiffs were left naked on the Vatican floor because their servants had pilfered the bed and stripped the corpse.<i> Mistress of the Vatican</i> brings to life not only a woman, and a church, but an entire civilization in all its greatness . . . and all its ignominy. </p> | |
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| 8. | ![]() | |
Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope (P.S.)
| | <blockquote> <p> "We have just elected a female pope." <br> Cardinal Alessandro Bichi, 1644 </p> </blockquote> <p> Today's Roman Catholic Church firmly states that women must be excluded from church leadership positions, but they neglect to mention that for over a decade in the seventeenth century a woman unofficially, but openly, ran the Vatican. Now, Eleanor Herman, author of <i>Sex with the Queen</i>, exposes one of the church's deepest secrets, laying bare facts that have been concealed for 350 years. </p> <p> Beginning in 1644 and for eleven years after, Olimpia Maidalchini, sister-in-law and reputed mistress of the indecisive Pope Innocent X, directed Vatican business, appointed cardinals, negotiated with foreign ambassadors, and helped herself to a heaping portion of the Papal State's treasury. Unlike the ninth century's Pope Joan, whose life is shrouded in mystery, Olimpia's story is documented in thousands of letters, news sheets, and diplomatic dispatches. </p> <p> Knowing of Pope Innocent's absolute dependence on his sister-in-law, Cardinal Alessandro Bichi angrily declared on the day of Innocent's election, "We have just elected a female pope." Mischievous Romans hung banners in churches calling her Pope Olimpia I. Cardinal Sforza Pallavicino bewailed the "monstrous power of a woman in the Vatican." One contemporary wrote that women might as well become priests, since one of them was already pope. </p> <p> Born in modest circumstances, Olimpia was almost forced into a convent at the age of fifteen due to the lack of a dowry. She used deceit to escape, and vowed never to be poor and powerless again. Throughout her life, Olimpia exacted excruciating vengeance on anyone who tried to lock her up or curb her power. But her grisly revenge on the pope who loved her would be reserved for after his death. . . . </p> <p> Seventeenth-century Rome boasted the world's most glorious art and glittering pageants but also suffered from famine, floods, swarms of locusts, and bubonic plague. Olimpia's world was kleptocratic; everyone from the lowliest servant up to the pope's august relatives unblushingly stole as much as they possibly could. Nepotism was rampant, and popes gave away huge sums and principalities to their nephews instead of helping the poor. Dead pontiffs were left naked on the Vatican floor because their servants had pilfered the bed and stripped the corpse.<i> Mistress of the Vatican</i> brings to life not only a woman, and a church, but an entire civilization in all its greatness . . . and all its ignominy. </p> | |
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| 9. |  | |
The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican
| | <p> Five hundred years ago Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the worldthe Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, which is the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork. </p> <p> <i>The Sistine Secrets</i> tells the fascinating story of how Michelangelo embedded messages of brotherhood, tolerance, and freethinking in his painting to encourage "fellow travelers" to challenge the repressive Roman Catholic Church of his time. </p> <blockquote> <p> <i>"Driven by the truths he had come to recognize during his years of study in private nontraditional schooling in Florence, truths rooted in his involvement with Judaic texts as well as Kabbalistic training that conflicted with approved Christian doctrine, Michelangelo needed to find a way to let viewers discern what he truly believed. He could not allow the Church to forever silence his soul. And what the Church would not permit him to communicate openly, he ingeniously found a way to convey to those diligent enough to learn his secret language."</i>from the Preface </p> </blockquote> <p> Blech and Doliner reveal what Michelangelo meant in the angelic representations that brilliantly mocked his papal patron, how he managed to sneak unorthodox heresies into his ostensibly pious portrayals, and how he was able to fulfill his lifelong ambition to bridge the wisdom of science with the strictures of faith. <i>The Sistine Secrets</i> unearths secrets that have remained hidden in plain sight for centuries. </p> | |
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| 10. | ![]() | |
The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican
| | <p> Five hundred years ago Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the worldthe Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, which is the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork. </p> <p> <i>The Sistine Secrets</i> tells the fascinating story of how Michelangelo embedded messages of brotherhood, tolerance, and freethinking in his painting to encourage "fellow travelers" to challenge the repressive Roman Catholic Church of his time. </p> <blockquote> <p> <i>"Driven by the truths he had come to recognize during his years of study in private nontraditional schooling in Florence, truths rooted in his involvement with Judaic texts as well as Kabbalistic training that conflicted with approved Christian doctrine, Michelangelo needed to find a way to let viewers discern what he truly believed. He could not allow the Church to forever silence his soul. And what the Church would not permit him to communicate openly, he ingeniously found a way to convey to those diligent enough to learn his secret language."</i>from the Preface </p> </blockquote> <p> Blech and Doliner reveal what Michelangelo meant in the angelic representations that brilliantly mocked his papal patron, how he managed to sneak unorthodox heresies into his ostensibly pious portrayals, and how he was able to fulfill his lifelong ambition to bridge the wisdom of science with the strictures of faith. <i>The Sistine Secrets</i> unearths secrets that have remained hidden in plain sight for centuries. </p> | |
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