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MineralMan

(149,135 posts)
Sun Apr 27, 2025, 09:57 AM Apr 27

Politics and the Roman Catholic Church

The year was 1963, and I was freshly graduated from high school when the Pope died. Not being a Catholic, I hadn't thought much about Popes, but suddenly it was in the news. I followed that news, as multiple Popes came and went in rapid succession. It was a time of turmoil in the church, apparently. That was the first time I had heard of the Conclave that selects a new pope.

Coincidentally, in 1963, a novel by Morris L. West, "The Shoes of the Fisherman," rocketed to the top of the best seller list. The subject of the novel was the election of a new pope. So, I read it as soon as it was available at the local public library. I found the political intrigue and complexity of choosing a Pope to be fascinating. Now, way too many years later, the Cardinals in Rome have another new Pope to choose. Once again, I'm fascinated by the politics of it all, which reflect politics everywhere.

If you're as interested as I am this time, you can read "The Shoes of the Fisherman" now. It's a page-turner. If you don't have time to do that, watch the movie "Conclave," which won a couple of Oscars. It's very good, too, and covers the same sort of complicated ground.

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niyad

(123,931 posts)
1. Have you ever read "In God's Name: An Investigation Into the Murder
Sun Apr 27, 2025, 10:10 AM
Apr 27

of Pope John Paul 1" by David Yallop? Published in 1984 (hmmm) it was a truly eye-opening, almost frightening, look at church politics (speaking here as an excomm, it stunned even me!).

SocialDemocrat61

(4,669 posts)
7. As well as invented by politics
Sun Apr 27, 2025, 01:09 PM
Apr 27

by Emperor Vespasian in the 1st century and then by Constantine in the 3rd.

keep_left

(2,909 posts)
5. And don't forget the film adaptation from 1968...
Sun Apr 27, 2025, 12:30 PM
Apr 27

...with Anthony Quinn, John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shoes_of_the_Fisherman_%28film%29
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063599/

P.S. Sorry about the weird formatting--something about parentheses freaks out the DU software, so they have to be replaced with "UTF-8" code, whatever that is.

 

Sky Jewels

(9,148 posts)
6. The RCC is oldest and most successful and most vicious grifting ring
Sun Apr 27, 2025, 01:00 PM
Apr 27

in world history. And they succeed in oppressing half the population while raking in their riches. The big-hatted poohbahs of the Vatican have fucked over women for eons. They can go fuck themselves.

MineralMan

(149,135 posts)
9. I am in no way a fan of the RCC. This is not a post about that.
Sun Apr 27, 2025, 01:59 PM
Apr 27

It remains an organization with a broad influence around the world, however. This post is about its inner workings, and about books that look behind the closed doors of its hierarchy. So, if someone is interested in that because of the recent news and goings on in the Vatican, I'm pointing out some resources that can provide insights.

It's not a thread that analyzes the Church, just some information about its operations at this time. You can follow my pointers or ignore them. Doesn't matter to me.

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