Vatican Diaries

A revealing insidelook at one of the world's most powerful and mysterious institutionsFor more than twenty-five years John Thavis held one of themost fascinating journalistic jobs in the world: reporting on the innerworkings of the Vatican. His daily exposure to the power, politics, and personalitiesin the seat of Roman Catholicism gave him a unique, behind-the-scenesperspective on an institution that is far less monolithic and unified than itfirst appears. Thavis reveals Vatican City as a place where Curia cardinalsfight private wars, scandals threaten to undermine papal authority, andreverence for the past is continually upended by the practical considerationsof modern life.Thavis takes listeners from a bell tower high above St.Peter's to the depths of the basilica and the saint's burial place, from thepoliticking surrounding the election of a new pope and the ever-growing sexualabuse scandals around the world to controversies about the Vatican's stand oncontraception and more.Perceptive,sharply written, and witty, The Vatican Diaries will appeal not only toCatholics-lapsed as well as devout-but to anyone interested in internationaldiplomacy and the role of religion in an increasingly secularized world.