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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Description of Actual Events That Reads Like a Novel,
This review is from: The Making of the Pope 2005 (Hardcover)
Much of the early portion of the book consists of Father Greeley's "State of The Church" address. While it might be somewhat difficult to make your way through this portion, doing so helps place the remainder of the book in context. Father Greeley presents very interesting timeline of the events leading up to the death of John Paul II. The timeline continues through the funeral, conclave and the election of Benedict XVI. Thoughout the timeline, Father Greeley presents his personal thoughts and comments about the various events included in the timeline.
Ultimately, Father Greeley is once again successful in producing historical events in a manner that reads like a very interesting novel. The book will satisfy those looking for both the broad sociological message and the political intrigue related to death of John Paul II and election of Benedict XVI.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes Insightful, Sometime Spite Filled,
By Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Making of the Pope 2005 (Hardcover)
Father Andrew Greeley is well known for his book about the Conclave that elected John Paul II in 1978. I personally haven't had the privilege of reading that work but I assume that it dealt a great deal more with the subject at hand than does this book. For all practical purposes this represents two books in one cover for only the last third of the book deals with the 2005 Conclave.
The first two thirds of this book is basically an encyclical from Father Greeley on reforms that he thinks need to be implemented by the Catholic Church. I have to admit that I oppose almost all of the reforms that the good Father purposes and despite my best efforts this may have affected my overall opinion of this book so a healthy grain of salt may be appropriate. I will readily admit however that the author's observations did make me stop and think which is a goal any good author must strive for. The problem arose however when it occurred to me that the more I thought about the issues raised by the author the more fervently I disagreed with him. Father Greeley predictably goes on and on about the various reforms supported by liberals within the Church. To the normal liberal litany however he adds a call for the election of Bishops and he drones on and on about this throughout the book. Unfortunately this is probably the worst idea he has and one that I feel compelled to contradict. As a cradle Catholic Father Greeley has never had any experience with elected Bishops but as a former Methodist I have seen just how much damage elected Bishops can do. As membership in the Methodist church continues to decline while internal turmoil continues to rise I can assure Father Greeley from experience that elected Bishops are a large part of the problem. Despite some holes in his arguments however the author generally does a good job of explaining his agenda. His writing is lively and fun and his sincerity is very evident. On the other hand he is just a little strident at times and his decision to label one of his opponents as a creep does not advance his cause in the least. Finally, in the last third of the book the reader will find what he/she bought the book for in the first place, a play-by-play description of the 2005 Conclave. In this section the author still tends to go on and on with his complaints but when he is actually reporting on the Conclave this book is very good. His descriptions of the crowd gathered at the Vatican and his observations concerning the Italian media frenzy are especially good and if he hadn't repeated himself so often this last part of the book would have been excellent. In fact, it was almost worth wading through the first part of the book in order to reach the pot of gold at the end.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Supremely disappointing,
By Carolyn the Librarian (Tacoma, WA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Making of the Pope 2005 (Hardcover)
I had read Fr. Greeley's book about the 1978 conclaves and enjoyed it immensely. I hadn't thought to look for this one until very recently, but was happy to find it. Unfortunately, this book is not what it claims to be. As other have noted, most of the writing is about the problems of the Church and how Fr. Greeley thinks they should be solved. Even the reporting on the conclave, thin though it is, was peppered with personal observations on what the Church should do and what the next pope needs to be.
If you followed the news reports at the time, you won't learn anything new from this book. Gone are the accounts of the back-alley deals, the dinnertime whispers, the private campaigning and the political maneuvering of a conclave. Instead, there is a cursory mention of what the Italian press was reporting, sort of sprinkled in among the diatribe. Benedict's full homily from his investiture is reprinted as well, I assume to fill space. Fr. Greeley repeats himself again and again, often verbatim. So, I was disappointed. If you're looking for the sequel to the 1978 book, don't buy this. If you want to know how Fr. Greeley would run the Church, this is right up your alley.
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