The Power and the Glory: Inside the Dark Heart of John Paul II' s Vatican

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Storm
Yallop paints a portrait of a pope who centralized authority as much as possible, quashed any sign of disobedience or rebellion within the Catholic Church and, while lambasting Catholics for getting involved in politics, was just as much a political figure as a religious one.

Grand_Moff_Gav
Whats interesting as Pope John Paul's "Chief Whip" if you will was Cardinal Ratzinger. It is through Ratzinger that John Paul II controlled the Church with almost despotic tyranisism. It is through Ratzinger and his "Doctrine of the Faith" that incidents of child abuse were hidden and who is the new Pope? Cardinal Ratzinger.

The fact that the public papacies of Benedict XVI and John Paul II contrast so much is powerful evidence that John Paul was not the saint people think he is. Why would such a man have a powerful second in command like Benedict?

Shin_Nikkolas
Has this book been kinda thrown out and discredited?

I've hardly seen or read anything about it.

DigiMark007
Meh, with the state of the Catholic Church and its waning world influence, can you blame him for trending toward despotism? It doesn't claim to be a democracy, and there's obviously good stuff he did mixed in with the bad.

I'm not justifying whatever the book tries to call JPII out on, but it needs to be taken into perspective.

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