About:
The Good Pope: John XXIII & Vatican II, The Making of a Saint and the Remaking of the Church by Greg Tobin is a biography of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, the Pope. John XXIII is credited with helping modernized the Catholic Church even though he only served as Pope from 1958 to 1963.
The publisher is giving away one copy of this book –to enter fill out the Rafflecoptter form at the end of the post.
Buy this book in paper or electronic format*
Thoughts: I wanted to read The Good Pope: John XXIII & Vatican II, The Making of a Saint and the Remaking of the Church by Greg Tobin because I am very unfamiliar with the Catholic dogma and beliefs. Being brought up Jewish I can also not comprehend the elevated status to the Pope in the eyes of mortal men as well as the whole idea of elevating a man into the status of “saint”.
I found it fascinating to read about the different faction within the Catholic church which I never knew existed. The whole “liberals” vs. “conservatives” division was explained very well without dissenting into blame or divisiveness, as Mr. Tobin is simply telling a story (and a good one at that) without taking sides; of course the reader gets to see events more clearly from the point of view of the subject of the book.
I learned a lot from this book, not only about John XXIII, but also about the Christian religion in general and the Catholic sect specifically. However, many of the terms are “technical” which I never heard of and had to look up many of them and then re-read the section to understand them within context.
That being said, the book is very readable, easy to read on a very likeable subject. I got the impression that John XXIII/ Angelo Roncalli was truly a very good man, a strong Pope who kept his “priest in the trenches” priorities while holding the highest level in his occupation. An unglamorous man who was truly a man-of-G-d first and a politician second.
One of John XXIII greatest achievements, outside of providing spiritual guidance for individuals, was convening the Second Vatican Council which was trying to reform the church. The Second Council’s agenda was to open the religion to the modern world while preserving the core traditions, a very difficult mission especially with the conservatives within the Vatican fighting tooth and nail against those reforms.
The Good Pope is an authoritative biography of a poor peasant who became Pope, a man full of humility, goodness and a healthy sense of humor which helped him greatly throughout his ordeals, diplomatic missions and facing his opponents. Filled with personal passages from Roncalli’s journal, the book is an amazing insight into a man whose short tenure left a large legacy.
Buy this book in paper or electronic format*
Congratulations: kuligowskiandrew@
Zohar – Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free from TLC Book Tours
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account
BOOK BLOGGERS – Have you read The Good Pope? If so link up your review below:
May Sarton (3 May, 1912 – 16 July, 1995) was a writer, poet, journalist and…
If you want to build excitement around a book release and grow a loyal readership…
The plot might be overstuffed, but I enjoyed the new characters. Moneypenny is COO of…
A.H. Raskin (26 April, 1911 – 22 December, 1993) was a reporter, writer, and assistant…
I hated the author’s passive-aggressive agenda. It just rubbed me the wrong way and seemed…
Teachers can help kids stay strong in bad times, and together they can strive by…
This website uses cookies.
View Comments
My email is : carlscott(at)prodigy(dot)net(dot)mx
He was the pope when I was born - and a hero of mine.
I don't know much about this particular pope but it sounds like he was truly a good man.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book for the tour.