The Dictator Pope - by Marcantonio Colonna. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks

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It would be an acceptable title for a work of fiction, but if the book is put forth as non-fiction (about Pope Francis), I’m having nothing to do with it. It’s a dishonest title, crafted to boost book sales and the author’s likely lecture tour.
 
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Edward_H said:
“time is greater than space” is his idea of a life changing point. One of 4 that he’s distilled over his entire life time! That should give you a sense for his throw weight as a theologian.
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As I heard in a broadcast homily by a bishop (sorry, I have forgotten which but it was on WAOB), if Jesus had wanted a theologian as Pope he would have selected St. John the Evangelist.
He picked Peter instead. Who doesn’t exactly sound like either the world’s greatest theological mind or the world’s greatest diplomat.

I’m sure Jesus had his reasons for letting Francis be made Pope also.
 
My direct response to you specifically is that it is very important to consider where other POV come from, otherwise, the situation just dissolves into an appeal to authority argument or simple close-mindedness as in “Oh yeah? well I ain’t gonna read that Pope-bashing!”.

You do have to be careful though especially if you are new to the Faith. The fact is there’s a lot of anti-Catholic forces out there who are very clever and know more about the Catholic Faith than even cradle Catholics.

My basic rule with media outside of pornography or extreme violence is this: If you find yourself being scandalized by it, don’t consume it. For some people this is a problem, for others it is not.

I wouldn’t recommend someone who is not strong in the faith and frankly believes whatever the Western media tells them about the Pope or what the Pope said to read something like that.
 
Fair point when the Church was 12+ in size. Hopefully that priest didn’t lead too many people astray with that sort of half thought out point.

But the Church is more than a billion large now, and we’ve developed our understanding of God’s will for us, leveraging many “Peters” and their helpers, including many many many Saints, including St Thomas Aquinas, who was every bit a gift and help to the Church as St Peter.

Hope this rounds out the point a bit; was needed.
 
I’ve been working my way through it. The chapter about the “St. Gallen Mafia” and its hand in the election of Pope Francis was alarming.
 
Edward_H said:
Hopefully that priest didn’t lead too many people astray with that sort of half thought out point.
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:roll_eyes:

I’m pretty sure it was either a bishop or an archbishop. It wasn’t just “that priest”. And it was a very well organized and well thought out talk on Jesus, Peter, John and Mary Magdalene.

I’m also pretty sure people are “led astray” more by some of the stuff posted on this forum, especially by the folks who think they know more than any bishop or Pope about Catholicism, than by anything on WAOB.

Also, St. Thomas Aquinas was not a Pope either. I don’t deny that he (and St. John) were great theologians, but that is a different skill set from the skill set required to lead a Church.
 
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Robert Royal’s reputation gave me pause as well. Plus EWTN, in my experience, doesn’t usually give good reviews to books that go against Church teaching. What bothers me is the title, though. I didn’t see Raymond’s interview so I don’t know if Royal addressed that. There are many who find the title scandalous and a cause in an of itself not to read the book. I did as well until I heard about the EWTN interview and read all the reviews about the author’s sources.
 
all my points stand.

St Thomas provided the intellectual work for most of the Church doctrine. He’s a Doctor of the Church, and his teaching and work have been stamped by every pope since he died.

One non-intellectual pope can’t undo all that good work and endorsements from other popes.

tks.
 
AULnel said:
I’m getting troubled by the disagreements I see among/between the Bishops and their teachings and I cannot see that Pope Francis has worked to clear up the confusion.
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Think about this statement and the premise of the book. The two are opposites. Pope Francis is criticized both for being too dictatorial, as well as for not being dictatorial and allowing bishops, as well as local bishop conferences, to act without his direction. If anything, he is far less of a direct manager (dictator) than his predecessors. Pope John did not have synods to give (name removed by moderator)ut on encyclicals. Pope Benedict ordered a new translation of the English lectionary and specified how it was going to be done.

There are many people who want to be their own pope, at least in theory, and think they would do a better job.
 
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pnewton said:
There are many people who want to be their own pope, at least in theory, and think they would do a better job.
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And no doubt this is being rushed into print and promoted by certain parties in order to get lots and lots of sales just in time for Christmas. It’s being promoted as “The inside story of the most tyrannical and unprincipled papacy of modern times.” Hey, let’s sit around the tree for Advent and read about what a rotten Pope we have! For only $9.95! That sounds like a good Catholic thing to do.

It used to be the Protestants said bad things about the Popes and Catholics defended them. Now we don’t even need Protestants. We have enough Catholics taking care of the job.
 
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I don’t consider myself new to the faith, having come into the Church Easter 2000. I did extensive research and much praying for 3 years before that. I led a Bible study at our Parish for 5 years before going back to work.

I’m now disabled and have the time for prayer and spiritual reading. I also try to keep up with news about the Church. I realize there have always been divisions in the Church. We are a family. Consequently, until the Lord returns, there will always be divisions among the faithful and even the Bidhops. We are all sinful humans in need of forgiveness. Because I have the time and am strong enough in my faith never to leave God’s Church, I am willing to read a well researched book about what is really going on in the Vatican. But, only if it would be okay to do.

Some responses to my initial post recommended always looking for an imprimatur. I doubt this kind of book would ever have that. I assume this book reads more like a news article about what’s happening politically in the Church. It may discuss theology as far as giving the opposing views but that is different from a book stating the Church teaches XYZ.
 
Finished reading it this weekend. I find it troubling. Researching the authors links. If true, we are going through some dark times. But in the end, we know that The Church will prevail.
 
His own books & writings, the Vatican, multiple other news sources from multiple areas and points of view. Unlike some, I don’t get all my information from one source.
 
AULnel said:
Some responses to my initial post recommended always looking for an imprimatur.
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I doubt it it will get a bishop’s approval. Maybe Jack Chick would, if he was around. I don’t mean to make light of this, but it is really hard to take this seriously. This book is more a reflection of our world today than it is of the papacy. Archbishop Lefebvre could have had the same hard criticism of St. John Paul. Without a doubt Pope Francis’ austerity has offended many equally who were used to a more princely life inside the Vatican.
 
The lack of an identified author is the biggest turnoff for me. It’s just impossible for me to assess the credibility of the person putting forward the alarming accusations.

Since several people mentioned that Robert Royal reviewed it positively, it’s worth noting that he also identifies several failings:

"The least satisfactory part of this book for me is the account of how the “St. Gallen Group” – one of its own members called it a “mafia” – which met to plan opposition to St. JPII and Joseph Ratzinger, identified Jorge Bergoglio as a future papal candidate. He had no global visibility until he gave the concluding address at the 2001 Synod on the role of bishops. NYC’s Cardinal Edward Egan was supposed to do that but stayed home because 9/11 had just happened. The address impressed the synod fathers for its fairness to both sides. Colonna reveals, however, that it was entirely the work of a Synod secretary/speechwriter, Msgr. Daniel Emilio Estivill. We need to know more about how things went, from then to now.

Colonna also weakens his credibility somewhat by repeating rumors that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin convinced Francis to use money from Peter’s Pence to support Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. No footnotes appear to support this claim, nor does Colonna offer a plausible account of how and why Rome would think Mrs. Clinton – Hilary Clinton? – worth such a risky bet and potential scandal."
 
I also think the anonymity of the author should be a good reason to take this with a grain of salt. This could be a work of Satan for all we know. I would bet a month’s paycheck that the reason for the anonymity is that the real name would cast the book in the real light of why it was written, probably something petty. This sure sounds like a literary revenge. While I respect EWTN, my respect for Raymond Arroyo has been even further diminished. He wants to play politics way too much. He probably should just head over to Breitbart if this is going to be what he calls journalism.
 
Wampa said:
Colonna also weakens his credibility somewhat by repeating rumors that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin convinced Francis to use money from Peter’s Pence to support Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. No footnotes appear to support this claim, nor does Colonna offer a plausible account of how and why Rome would think Mrs. Clinton – Hilary Clinton? – worth such a risky bet and potential scandal."
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How is this not gossip and calumny, basically everything the Catholic Church teaches on respect for the truth?
 
angel12 said:
multiple other news sources from multiple areas and points of view. Unlike some, I don’t get all my information from one source.
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This is vague.
pnewton said:
There are many people who want to be their own pope, at least in theory, and think they would do a better job.
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A great bumper sticker slogan for the low information crowd.
 
Ad hominem attacks are really not necessary. You are entitled to your opinion on the books validity. And you have every right to voice that opinion within forum rules. But cheap shots toward Raymond Arroyo are unseemly and rather juvenile. Actually more Breitbart like than anything I have seen from Arroyo on his World Over broadcast.
 
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