A History of the Popes: From Peter to the Present

by John W. O'Malley

A History of the Popes tells the story of the oldest living institution in the Western world-the papacy. From its origins in Saint Peter, Jesus' chief disciple, through Pope Benedict XVI today, the popes have been key players in virtually all of the great dramas of the western world in the last two thousand years. Acclaimed church historian John W. O'Malley's engaging narrative examines the 265 individuals who have claimed to be Peter's successors.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Theology, Catholic, Christianity

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 16, 2009

About the author

Rev. Father John W. O’Malley, SJ, PhD was a professor of theology at the University of Detroit, Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and Georgetown University. His specialty was the history of religious culture in early modern Europe, especially Italy. He received best-book prizes from the American Historical Association, the American Philosophical Society, the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, the American Catholic Historical Association, and from the Alpha Sigma Nu fraternity. His best known books are The First Jesuits (Harvard University Press, 1993), which has been translated into twelve languages, What Happened at Vatican II (Harvard, 2008), now in six languages, and The Jesuits: A History from Ignatius to the Present (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), now in seven languages. A companion to the book on Vatican II is his Trent: What Happened at the Council (Harvard, 2012), in five languages. He has edited or co-edited a number of volumes, including three in the Collected Works of Erasmus series, University of Toronto Press. Of special significance is The Jesuits and the Arts, (Saint Joseph’s University Press, 2005), co-edited with Gauvin Alexander Bailey, and Art, Culture, and the Jesuits: The Imago primi saeculi, 1640) (Saint Joseph's University Press, 2015). In 2015 he also published Catholic History for Today's Church: How Our Past Illuminates Our Present (Rowman & Littlefield). He edited a series with Saint Joseph's University Press entitled Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts, in which thirteen titles have appeared to date.

John O’Malley lectured widely in North America and Europe to both professional and general audiences. He held a number of fellowships, from the American Academy in Rome (Prix de Rome), the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and other academic organizations. He was a past president of the Renaissance Society of America and of the American Catholic Historical Association. In 1995 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 1997 to the American Philosophical Society, and in 2001 to the Accademia di san Carlo, Ambrosian Library, Milan, Italy. He held the Johannes Quasten Medal from The Catholic University of America for distinguished achievement in Religious Studies, and he holds a number of honorary degrees. In 2002 he received the lifetime achievement award from the Society for Italian Historical Studies, in 2005 the corresponding award from the Renaissance Society of America, and in 2012 the corresponding award from the American Catholic Historical Association. He was a Roman Catholic priest and a member of the Society of Jesus.

Reviews

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this book. The only reason I gave it 3 stars was that it described the Papacy only for certain Popes. At the very end of the book there was a listing of all the Popes and the order they served. This just didn't seem enough to me. I think to get a true and thorough understanding of the Papacy you have to review all the Popes not just some. I would however recommend reading it.

[Tittirossa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avvincente come un romanzo (ma se lo fosse sarebbe tacciato di sensazionalismo, per i tanti passaggi al limite dell'incredibile!), interessante come un saggio storico.
Aiuta a mettere nella giusta proporzione l'attuale visione del papato: visione che si è concretizzata negli ultimi 200 anni (a fronte di una storia millenaria) e radicata negli ultimi 60.
Fa sorridere che per buona parte dell'era cristiana l'esistenza stessa del Papa fosse una notizia ristretta a pochi, e che la sua missione "pastorale" abbia dovuto combattere per emergere da un vissuto politico e guerriero.
Il grosso rischio è sempre il relativismo, ma O'Malley si è tenuto a debita distanza dai tanti pericoli di distorsione insiti nel narrare una storia di questa portata. Storia la cui lettura è comprensibile solo agli adulti italiani che hanno frequentato la scuola dell'obbligo in epoca pre-riforma scolastica attuale, quando la storia si studiava sul serio.

[Kayla Gutierrez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It cannot be easy to condense 2,000 years of papal history in one 360-page book, but in general, the author does a commendable job at explaining the context and implications of major turning points in papal history. As a history buff, I enjoyed the author's focus on carefully-chosen events and patterns that demonstrate the atmosphere of the time. As a Catholic, I appreciated the sprinkling of papal decisions that set major precedents and traditions, some of which survive to this day. Although some of the book's micro-details delayed its momentum, this book balances the virtues and vices of noteworthy popes and paints the papacy as an adaptive, living-and-breathing institution that survives as an integral part of the Catholic Church.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

The History of the Catholic Church and Papal History are the same. One cannot mention one without thinking of the other. What is interesting is how the Papacy has changed over the centuries.

Father John W O'Malley delves into the history of the Papacy from Peter to Pope Benedict XVI. Originally the Pope was not the leader of the Catholic Church. In this fascinating account, O'Malley describes how this changed. Giving it a little thought should make this idea clear, though. Airplanes, telegraphs, automobiles; none of these things existed. In the Middle Ages, you didn't even know who the Pope was half the time.

When I was growing up, the Pope was John Paul II. By that time, the Papacy established itself as a global influence. Learning about earlier Popes was fascinating, especially considering some of the more human Popes with their foibles and follies.

[Josiah Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a book for any history nerds out there. This book literally goes through every single pope right back to Peter and it gets into all the juicy details. I’d recommend this to anyone looking to get a more historical perspective on the institution of the papacy, how it began, and how it evolved over time into what it is today.

I learned that that job description and public visibility of the pope has not always been the same, in fact it’s changed a lot over the course of 2000 years.

The papacy is a checkered institution full of sinners and saints, those who abused and used the position for power and greed, and those who served God and the Church to the best of their abilities. I felt like this book gave a balanced and informative perspective on the many different popes, not ignoring the problematic details and also not giving into the temptation to blow things out of proportion.

[Joe McMahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful. Please note that this is not a history of Christianity nor a church history. It is an account of many men who were Popes or anti-Popes. Some are almost skipped over. Page 28: Constantine and the church of St. John Lateran. Page 177: Dominican friars want Savonarola canonized. Page 179: Leo X and a papal elefant!
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Page 180 has a reference to papal annates. These are up-front taxes collected by a pope or bishop during his first year in office.
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Page 182: Johann Tetzel, selling indulgences, was a Dominican friar. Page 213: After the slaughter of Huguenots in 1572, Gregory XIII ordered the singing of a Te Deum.
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Page 305: In 1955, Giovanni Battista Montini brought to Milan ninety crates of books. Page 308: Decrees of the second Vatican Council on ecumenism were the opposite of Pius XI's encyclical Mortalium Animos, Piuis XI, 1928.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Justin Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was... okay. I'd rather read Duffy's book on the popes again, and I'd rather read O'Malley's books on the councils again. But this is a quick read.

[Adam Gietz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in the general history of the papacy. This was a nice introduction to the general themes, challenges and most important popes.

[Sandi Leska · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting

A bit meandering. Maps and timelines would had been helpful. Consistency with names and a glossary would also help. Still it was interesting.

[Billy]

James the brother of jesus

[Doug Schreiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very readable account of not only the papacy, but the history of western civilization ss the impact of Christendom on the world.

[Richard Conboy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry

[Momma Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A huge topic made very readable. Easy to follow.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and very readable. Charts the development, not only of the papacy, but of Western civilization itself (at least in the year of our Lord).

While O'Malley does occasionally try to find evidence for the Roman bishop's predominant leadership role in the earliest years of the church, he seems perfectly aware that the reality, or at least what we have to go off of, is much more ambiguous. He admits that most old lists begin with Linus - not Peter. He points out that, before the title "pope" was given solely to Rome's bishop, it had been used for all other bishops, as was the title "vicar of Christ" (before Innocent III, Roman bishops had sometimes been referred to as the "vicar of Peter"). He never really explains why the bishop of Milan excommunicated the Roman emperor (and that during the papacy of Damasus, who insisted on the preeminence of the "Apostolic See", and referred to fellow bishops as "sons", to the consternation of the Eastern bishops).

O'Malley, as might be expected, highlights how tied up the popes had been in the political affairs of Europe. This, of course, is seen in the coronation of Charlemagne, the Donation of Pepin, etc., but also in the remarkable encounter between Leo the Great and Attila the Hun (which somehow or another resulted in Attila's backing off).

So O'Malley tells the story of an office that from its earliest days enjoys a special kind of respect and prestige (maybe nostalgic?) but grows (almost always at the insistence of the office-holder, but also the unchecked loyalty of others [I wonder if some of that loyalty doesn't stem from some kind of patriotism: East vs. West, etc.]) into the kind of authority that would claim infallibility and determine dogma unilaterally.

Enjoyable and informative. I suggest reading it.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good history and has some pretty interesting stories in it. It's a good read. I learned a lot about the history of the Catholic church and the papacy. It was interesting to watch the decline in the papacy away from concerns of faith to concerns of power and land. The author is a Catholic historian, but is very fair-blunt, even- about the shortcomings of the popes and the church. I have a better understanding of the complexities of the Catholic church now.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

2000 years is a lot of time to cover in one book and I thought the author did a good job. He had some biographical information about almost all the popes. He did assume that the reader was familiar with Roman Catholicism beliefs and occasionally would use terms without any kind of explanation as to their meaning.

[Argum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Full of history and detailed events in papal history and yet entirely engaging to read. Fr. O'Malley is a Jesuit and obviously a Catholic, but this does not stop him from calling out bad behavior in the ranks of either group. Delighted I picked this up off a random end cap at the book store

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reserving a 4 till I finish it (but I keep getting side-tracked and having to check it out from the library again). There is so much history of the Catholic church that I was unaware of. Good to read because it is in so many ways tied in with the history of Europe.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this looking for a glimpse of the history of the popes - and that's roughly what I got. I could tell that there was a LOT that wasn't being addressed, but for 300 pages, I got just enough to let me get the 'high points'. All in all a worthwhile read.

[Frederick Dotolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history- O'Malley really shows the development of the papacy, an institution that developed within the context of European history (especially the fall of Rome and the rise of the Germanic states).

[Tom Wascoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers a lot of ground (2000 years). Well written, easy read. Gives a balanced view of the history of the development of the papacy. Acknowledges but doesn't dwell on the sensational stories (e.g. Pope Joan, popes who fathered chidren, etc.).

[Nancy Bielski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was informative without being overly detailed. There were a few places where I wish there could have been more detail (the popes of the Renaissance), but it was a good read. The style was fairly easy to read too.

[E.J. Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, surprisingly engrossing history.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good summary of the office of pope and how it was molded not only by the whims of Europe's kings and politics and sometimes by the personalities of the Popes themselves.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non-fiction, like a textbook kind of book. Very interesting information, especially with how the Catholic church is such a HUGE part of European history.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent supplement to my Fromm course on the Papacy. Very readable.

[Francios B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome History... A must read for practicing Catholics