TY  - BOOK
AU  - Thavis,John
TI  - The Vatican diaries: a behind-the-scenes look at the power, personalities, and politics at the heart of the Catholic Church 
SN  - 0670026719 (hbk.)
PY  - 2013///
CY  - New York
PB  - Viking
KW  - Benedict
KW  - Catholic Church
KW  - Government
KW  - Papacy
KW  - History
KW  - Vatican City
N1  - Includes index; The bells -- Up in the air -- Nuestro Padre -- Bones -- Cat and mouse -- Latinist -- The pope who would be saint -- Hemlines and banana peels -- Sex -- The real Benedict
N2  - this book presents a behind-the-scenes perspective on the Vatican's inner workings that challenges popular perceptions, revealing the personal conflicts, authority-undermining scandals, and modern considerations that are challenging the Vatican's daily business. For more than twenty-five years the author has reported on the inner workings of the Vatican. His daily exposure to the power, politics, and personalities in the seat of Roman Catholicism gave him a unique perspective on an institution that is far less monolithic and unified than it first appears. He reveals Vatican City as a place where Curia cardinals fight private wars, scandals threaten to undermine papal authority, and reverence for the past is continually upended by the practical considerations of modern life. The author takes readers from a bell tower high above St. Peter's to the depths of the basilica and the Saint's burial place, from the politicking surrounding the election of a new pope and the ever-growing sexual abuse scandals around the world to controversies about the Vatican's stand on contraception and more
ER  -