Vatican History

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.

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.

"Officially" the Vatican has no espionage service; but does no one carry out intelligence operations on its behalf? During the Second World War and Cold War, Rome was teeming with spies. A band of undercover monsignors and priests hunted for Vatican "moles," led clandestine diplomacy, investigated assassinations of priests and other scandals threatening the Church, and conducted high-risk missions behind the Iron Curtain.

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.

Although a tiny city- state, the Vatican City boasts many cultural and religious gems in its small boundaries. It’s famous for being the smallest country in the world, at less than 50 hectares, or 120 acres. And its permanent population is less than 1000 people. But it is home to the Sistine Chapel, St Peter’s Basilica, ten museums and many lush gardens! And as the world centre of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican is a place of enormous interest to pilgrims and art lovers the world over.

While on official UNESCO business in The Vatican Museum, Dr Max Hunter finds himself pulled into a dark conspiracy of Biblical proportions! Summoned to the inner sanctum of the Vatican in the middle of the night, Hunter discovers his friend and colleague, Professor Marco Vitali, has been brutally murdered, using his dying moments to draw a message on the floor in his own blood – a clue for Max to follow!

‘This 5-star thriller is a non-stop action-packed adventure… Reads like the latest blockbuster film… I was left breathless, my heart pounding as I turned the last page’ NetGalley review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ You’ve cracked the Da Vinci code, now uncover the Vatican secret… The deepest...

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.

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.

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?

THE VATICAN SECRET: Beyond the Labyrinth of Faith. What if the foundations of your reality were built on a selective truth? Beneath the Holy City lies a cognitive bifurcation—a hidden parallel history guarded by 85 kilometers of secret shelving. This investigation pulls back the veil on the most protected knowledge in human history, designed to bridge the gap between what you’ve been told and what is actually being hidden.

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.

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.

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

Based on never-before-examined Fascist and Vatican archives, a shocking, groundbreaking history of Italy's 1938 racial laws and the desperate measures thousands of Jewish families took to save themselves before and during World War II, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and bestselling...

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.

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.