Vatican History

It is one of the most ancient, arcane, and to some, embarrassing rites of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet the number of priests in Italy trained as exorcists has risen tenfold over the past decade - and they are still unable to keep up with the skyrocketing demand for their services. Award-winning foreign correspondent Tracy Wilkinson reveals that "devil detox", as some call it, is a booming industry, complete with motivational speakers, international conventions, and plenty of controversy.

When ex-MI5 operative Joe Mason is sent to Rome to guard an elderly professor and his daughter, he thinks he’s in for an easy ride. But on their first day in the Vatican secret archives, a masked assassin gains entry, shoots Joe’s client in cold blood and steals an ancient manuscript. Giving chase, Joe can’t imagine what could lie within those pages that would make someone willing to kill. The search for answers leads Joe and his comrades in a race against time, across continents and into treacherous mountains.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), or Vatican II, is arguably the most significant event in the life of the Catholic Church since the Reformation. The Council initiated, intentionally or not, profound changes not simply within Catholic theology, but in the religious, social, and moral lives of the world's billion Catholics. It also reconfigured, intellectually and practically, the Church's engagements with those outside of it—most obviously with regard to other religions.

The enduring influence of the Catholic Church has many sources, but in the first half of the 19th century, the foundations upon which the church had rested were shaken. For many people, liberalism in the guise of liberty, equality, and fraternity was the quintessence of the evils that shook those foundations. At the Vatican Council of 1869-1870, the church made an effort to set things right by defining the doctrine of papal infallibility. Author John W. O'Malley draws us into the bitter controversies over papal infallibility that at one point seemed destined to rend the church in two.

When the papal apartments are burgled in 1901, Sherlock Holmes is summoned to Rome by Pope Leo XII. After learning from the pontiff that several priceless cameos that could prove compromising to the church, and perhaps determine the future of the newly unified Italy, have been stolen, Holmes is asked to recover them. In a parallel story, Michelangelo, the toast of Rome in 1501 after the unveiling of his Pieta, is commissioned by Pope Alexander VI, the last of the Borgia pontiffs, with creating the cameos that will bedevil Holmes and the papacy four centuries later.

Already infamous for the arbitrary, paranoid persecution of its own citizens throughout much of the 20th century, the Soviet Union - as is revealed in John Koeher’s revelatory, eye-opening exposé - also waged a vicious espionage campaign against the Catholic Church and its followers. From the persecution of local priests to an assassination order against Pope John Paul II, the KGB viewed Catholicism as a threat to stability in Eastern Europe and treated the church as an enemy of the State. Lifetime journalist and former U.S. Army Intelligence Officer John Koehler has written the definitive book on this startling history.

While on a visit to the United States, Pope Pius XIII is kidnapped by a terrorist cell calling itself the Soldiers of Islam. If the United States and its allies do not meet their demands, they will execute the pope. FBI Specialist Shari Cohen is called to duty to track down the terrorist cell responsible, and she soon learns that she is not alone.

Deep behind the Vatican walls, a secret order dispatches a clandestine group of elite commandos known as the Vatican Knights. Their mission: bring the pope back alive.

Every year, millions visit a stunning circuit board city starring gorgeous collections of interconnected rectangular buildings and charming houses in shades of beige, sandy-brown, and other earthy tones. Zoom in a little closer, and one can see the Renaissance-style exterior of its buildings and the exquisite detail captured in the statues mounted on the tops of its palaces and cathedrals.

What do you really know about Vatican City? The Vatican, comprising the Apostolic Palace, St. Peter’s Basilica, and various other buildings, serves as the headquarters of the Catholic Church. It has done so for nearly two millennium--ever since the first Pope, St. Peter, made it his home. Thousands of Catholics flock to the Vatican and its iconic basilica each year. But what do you really know about this great basilica and the city that houses it?

During the past five decades, the Second Vatican Council has been alternately celebrated or maligned for its supposed break with tradition and embrace of the modern world. But what if we've gotten it all wrong? Have Catholics—both those who embrace the spirit of Vatican II and those who regard it with suspicion—misunderstood what the council was really about? Fr. Blake Britton discovered the truth and beauty of the council while he was in seminary and he has witnessed firsthand the power of its teachings

It's spring in Burgundy. The flowers are out and so are the cardinals - of Pope Urban's renegade papacy, now on the run from the Vatican's would-be usurper Borja. Most of the Church's senior leaders have converged upon the city of Besancon, where the Pope plans to offer an ecumenical olive branch to the other Christian denominations with which Rome has been at war. Fortunately, Urban has up-time help. He can rely upon Cardinal-Protector Larry Mazzare's theological savvy, Sharon Nichols' medical skills, and her husband Ruy Sanchez's keen-eyed experience as a bodyguard-in-chief.

In this fascinating audiobook, narrator Lawrence Keefe talks us through over 100 amazing facts about the sovereign state, covering subjects such as the Sistine Chapel, other well-known landmarks, the Swiss Guards and much more - including information about some rather interesting individuals who have held the exalted position of Pope. So whether you’re looking to visit or are just interested to learn more about this amazing enclave, this is the perfect audiobook for you.

The Vatican is a landlocked independent city state and enclave in Rome, Italy. The Vatican City State, also called the Vatican, acquired independence from Italy in the year 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a different terrain under the Holy See's "full ownership, special rule, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction", which makes sure the city state's temporal, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. This is one of the world’s most unique states/countries, something that is definitely worth understanding.

« La Ménagerie du Vatican », de Jean de Bonnefon, est une satire mordante et irrévérencieuse qui soulève le voile sur la cour pontificale, dépeinte comme un zoo doré de vanités ecclésiastiques. À travers une plume acérée, l'auteur dresse un inventaire des titres de noblesse pontificaux accordés à des Français, souvent contre paiement : princes, ducs, marquis, comtes, vicontes et barons fraîchement anoblis, dont les origines modestes contrastent avec leurs parchemins latins pompeux.

Toutes les réponses à vos interrogations sur le plus secret des États : le Vatican. Le Vatican, terre de mystères et de fantasmes, a fait couler beaucoup d'encre sans pour autant lever le voile sur toutes ses zones d'ombre. Au terme de plusieurs années d'enquêtes et de reportages, Bernard Lecomte est parvenu à exhumer trente-quatre dossiers célèbres et souvent non élucidés de l'histoire mouvementée du siège de l'Église catholique. Avec le souci constant de démêler le vrai du faux, il apporte des réponses parfois inattendues aux questions que nous nous posons tous.

¿Qué siete puntos son aceptados por el nuevo Papa nada más ser nombrado y qué poderes tiene? ¿Cuándo fue elegido sumo Pontífice el cardenal Ratzinger? ¿Cuáles fueron los primeros pasos de Benedicto XVI? ¿Qué facción dirigió Ratzinger en el cónclave de abril de 2005? ¿Qué opinión tiene el Papa Benedicto XVI sobre la adaptación de la Iglesia al mundo? Una guía práctica y exhaustiva, con más de quinientas preguntas y respuestas que le descubrirán el secreto mundo de los papas y el Vaticano.

Cuando, en junio de 2013, Edward Snowden reveló que la Agencia de Seguridad Nacional había interceptado a millones de personas, incluyendo varios jefes de Estado y de Gobierno, se descubrió que no se había escapado de espionaje, ni siquiera Jorge Mario Bergoglio o los cardenales que habían elegido al nuevo Papa.

Los cuervos del Vaticano revela una historia de mayordomos traidores, filtraciones de documentos, comisiones secretas de investigación, del servicio de espionaje y contraespionaje del Vaticano, de prelados que denuncian la corrupción y que son alejados de inmediato de San Pedro, lavado de dinero, altos miembros de la mafia siciliana, un complot para asesinar al papa, una adolescente desaparecida y supuestamente utilizada como esclava sexual, una guerra entre periodistas y directivos de la prensa católica, un presidente del IOR cesado y con miedo a ser asesinado.

¿Te gusta leer historia y conocer a los personajes que influyeron profundamente en eventos historicos? ¿Te interesa conocer hechos desconocidos o poco publicitados de la Segunda Guerra Mundial? ¿Deseas descubrir verdades olvidadas sobre la relación de Roma y el Nacional-Socialismo? ¿Ansias saber los datos precisos para defenderte de los que mienten al decir que Roma era Pro-Hitler?

Cada año, millones de personas visitan un espectacular circuito compuesto por maravillosas agrupaciones de edificios interconectados y encantadoras casas coloreadas de beige, arena y demás matices terrosos. Al acercarse pueden ver el exterior renacentista de esas construcciones, y los exquisitos detalles capturados en las estatuas colocadas en el tope de palacios y catedrales. Cruzar las puertas de estos lugares históricos, es entrar en todo un mundo nuevo, incluso más cautivador que la vista de la ciudad bañada con el púrpura y el melocotón del crepúsculo. Ubicado en Roma, este fascinante destino no es otro que la Ciudad del Vaticano.