Saints & sinners Book

Published in 1997 this work concludes during the pontificate of John Paul II. In general it is an excellent introduction to the popes, and provides good coverage of both the good and the bad among them. Overall, however, the author tends to take a conciliatory approach to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. While it provides pertinent insights into the politics of the times for each pope, 'bad' actions tend to be framed, usually, within the political shenanigans of their periods, and thus one tends to be forgiving if their actions do not sit well with our modern sensibilities.

Other authors (and their numbers are increasing as more information is dug up or becomes available) are far less forgiving. The reality that for many, many centuries the papacy was a not-so-very-spiritual political power which tended to defend its position of authority with totalitarian efficiency and complete mercilessness against its real or imagined enemies in decidedly un-Christian ways, tends to remove the shine that apologetic Christian historians have added to the history of the papacy.

Duffy's work is somewhere in between; yet by being basically 'honest' to the story, the final effect is one of 'as a rule they did their best'. For an organisation purporting to represent Christ on earth, if you read between the lines, it seems obvious to me that this 'best' is simply not good enough.