Absolute Power, Paul Collins
Absolute Power, Paul Collins
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Absolute Power
How the Pope Became the Most Influential Man in the World

Author: Paul Collins

Narrator: Oliver Wyman

Unabridged: 14 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 03/27/2018

Synopsis

The sensational story of the last two centuries of the papacy, its most influential pontiffs, troubling doctrines, and rise in global authority

In 1799, the papacy was at rock bottom: The Papal States had been swept away and Rome seized by the revolutionary French armies. With cardinals scattered across Europe and the next papal election uncertain, even if Catholicism survived, it seemed the papacy was finished.
In this gripping narrative of religious and political history, Paul Collins tells the improbable success story of the last 220 years of the papacy, from the unexalted death of Pope Pius VI in 1799 to the celebrity of Pope Francis today. In a strange contradiction, as the papacy has lost its physical power -- its armies and states -- and remained stubbornly opposed to the currents of social and scientific consensus, it has only increased its influence and political authority in the world.

About Paul Collins

Paul Collins is the author of eight books, including The Book of William: How Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World and Duel with the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America’s First Sensational Murder Mystery, a finalist for the Edgar Award. He appears on NPR’s Weekend Edition as its “literary detective” on odd and forgotten books, and is the founder of the Collins Library imprint of McSweeney’s Books. Collins lives in Portland, Oregon, where he is an associate professor of English at Portland State University.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Andrew on December 31, 2017

An interesting idea that starts by exploring the development of papal power but turns into a potted history (and somewhat political evaluation) of recent popes. The thread of the main idea just about aurvives to the end but frays as Collins calls for an unsurprising laundry list of reforms to the Ch......more

Goodreads review by Sally on July 04, 2018

I became a little fixated after Easter on understanding Catholic structures and history a little better. This book focuses on popes over the last several centuries, mixing in quite a bit of other church politics and theory about centralized authority versus the "body" of the church. I struggled a bi......more

Goodreads review by Br. Thanasi (Thomas) on June 08, 2018

Excellent history and analysis of role of the pope from 1799-present day. What I found fascinating was how much the role of pope changed. I thought Mr. Collins' observation about popes during my lifetime are surprising deep. His insights into Pope Saint John Paul II and Pope Paul the VI explained a l......more

Goodreads review by Patricia on September 17, 2018

This is a history of the papacy from the death of Pope Pius VI in 1799 to the unfinished papacy of Pope Francis. So the papacy in the nineteenth century, the twentieth century and the first decades of the twenty first century. Pope Pius VI died as a prisoner of Napoleon and was buried in unconsecrat......more

Goodreads review by Alex on March 01, 2020

Highly interesting content but it is written in a way that I personally found hard to follow. As a non native English speaker I usually handle 99% of books in English without any major issues but this one had quite a few words that I couldn't quite wrap my head around (and often several of them in t......more

Quotes

"A thoroughly researched but tendentious history in support of a call for a radically different papacy and church."—Kirkus Reviews

"Convincing history... This trenchant work will be of primary interest to general readers curious about papal authority since the Enlightenment era."—Publishers Weekly

"Well-documented... An honest but critical analysis of the role of the papacy in both the church and the world in modern times."—Library Journal

"Fasten your seat belt for a rollicking ride through two hundred years of papal history culminating in a generally positive assessment of Pope Francis' new approach to the role. Paul Collins offers a broad and deep albeit astonishingly accessible read of the complicated, deeply fraught currents in the Roman Catholic Church. He wisely does not presume to predict what will be next. But scholars and interested observers alike will want this resource at hand to make sense of it as it unfolds."—Mary Hunt, codirector of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)

"In this essential guide to the history of the papacy, Paul Collins dramatically traces the Vatican's near-death experience and remarkable restoration of power over the past two centuries. Absolute Power reveals how the history of the papacy affects--and distorts--our understanding of the church today, and offers a prophetic challenge to an institution that must evolve if it is to survive. Collins has given us an urgent, meticulous historical study that reads like a page-turner."—Jamie L. Manson, columnist and books editor, The National Catholic Reporter

"Extensively researched and well written, Collins' latest is a tour de force. If you want to have a deep understanding of the modern-day papacy and want to discover the deep roots of the challenges facing anyone (like Pope Francis) who seeks to reform it, then get this book. You won't put it down!"—Robert Mickens, English language editor, La Croix International

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