Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church

by Thomas J. Reese

There are one billion Catholics in the world today, spread over every continent, speaking almost every conceivable language, and all answering to a single authority. The Vatican is a unique international organization, both in terms of its extraordinary power and influence, and in terms of its endurance. Popes come and go, but the elaborate and complex bureaucracy called the Vatican lives on. For centuries, it has served and sometimes undermined popes; it has been praised and blamed for the actions of the pope and for the state of the church. Yet an objective examination of the workings of the Vatican has been unavailable until now. Drawing on more than a hundred interviews with Vatican officials, this book affords a firsthand look at the people, the politics, and the organization behind the institution. Reese brings remarkable clarity to the almost Byzantine bureaucracy of congregations, agencies, secretariats, tribunals, nunciature, and offices, showing how they serve the pope and, through him, the universal church. He gives a lively account of how popes are elected and bishops appointed, how dissident theologians are disciplined and civil authorities dealt with. Throughout, revealing and colorful anecdotes from church history and the present day bring the unique culture of the Vatican to life. The Vatican is a fascinating institution, a model of continuity and adaptation, which remains constant while functioning powerfully in a changing world. As never before, this book provides a clear, objective perspective on how the enormously complex institution surrounding the papacy operates on a day-to-day level, how it has adapted and endured for close to two thousand years, and how it is likely to face the challenges of the next millennium.

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

322 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1996

Reviews

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thorough explanation of the structure of the Vatican: from the process for handling letters addressed to the pope to the rules governing the selection of a new pope, from the make up and function of every office in Vatican City to the salaries and benefit packages for Vatican employees. The tone is dry and detailed. The biggest limitation is that this book was published 25 years ago and so does not include the influences of the two most recent popes. I would not recommend this to anyone who is not extremely interested in Vatican structures. Even with that interest, I found my eyes glazing at times.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Likely a good book in general, but it was profoundly unhelpful for my purposes. Reese managed to fill several hundred pages and mention women perhaps four times - quite a feat, given that women religious significantly outnumbered their male counterparts until the turn of the century, and Reese was attempting an historical perspective. Oh well.

[Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

No, this ain't a tell all scandal shopper. It's the best book about how the Vatican works, all the offices and officers. Reese also updates the book semiregularly to reflect actual changes in people or office name.

[Aaron Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

The economist Tyler Cowen recommended this as "perhaps the best book on bureaucracy ever" in his review of the movie Conclave, which I also recently saw. The merits of that particular claim (and the qualities of that film) aside, its producers surely must have read this book, because the procedures for replacing a Pope seen onscreen match up with what Reese has written here essentially exactly: he basically gives you step by step instructions for electing a Pope of your own. But beyond that, Reese has written an incredibly thorough account of what the business of running the Vatican - the headquarters of the single largest faith on Earth - is actually like in practice. It turns out that it's primarily more meetings than you ever thought possible, and all decisions are burdened with the delicacy of having theoretically near-divine authority but also the knowledge that you have to be extremely careful how that power is used. The book was originally published in 1996, so it's several popes out of date (though you do see a cameo from one Joseph Ratzinger in his capacity as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), but Reese is a good writer, and of course it's unlikely that an institution like the Vatican has radically changed its procedures since then. Heaven forbid!

The review in question: https://marginalrevolution.com/margin...

[David Sørensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I some time ago wanted to read about how the Vatican state functions. It was, however, quite difficult to find a serious book on the topic. Most books were nonsense about the secrets of the Vatican or what the Vatican doesn't want you to know. Other books were just too old (I found a French book from the 1960s, which would be really dated by now). This book, on the other hand, was spot on.

This is the book for you if you're interested in knowing how the Vatican works, including the economy, employees, educational organizations and infastructure. It gives a good depiction of how the Vatican state is working and the structural problems of the state and the Catholic church, without bringing in the normal nonsense found in these kind of books.

The book was written back in the 1990s but has aged surprising well. The book does, for example, give some idea to why the late pope Francis reformed the curia (predicate evangelium) and a detailed description of the history and current functions of the Cardinals. It also answered questions I've been wondering about for quite some time, like whether conferences of bishops (mandatory per kanon 444) is a recent development, which this book confirms; the book is a fountain of facts difficult to find elsewhere.

[Saket · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suspect in five years I won’t remember anything this book described with respect to the Secretariat, nuncio and the synod.

That said, it is an incredible investigation into a multi-millennia institution. Rife with the scar tissue of past institutions, internal power brokers, committees (that are both nested and cross-pollinated), empowered leaders, global politics, internal politics, cross-organisational language barriers and many other issues. Even Italian hiring law is a non-trivial problem.

It is the terminal end state of a bureaucracy. If anything built this decade will still be around in 4025, I wonder if they’ll do much better. In that regard, I suspect this book will colour how I see all large bureaucracies going forward.

I’ll re-visit in a couple of years to see if it deserves 5*; if the book has taught me anything is that that’s pretty fast all things considered.

[Maciej Kaczmarek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Profound insight into the time of Paul VI and John Paul II, well connected with the spirit of post Vatican II. Some chapters (2, 3, 5) truly technical and probably outdated. Later chapters are written in more narrative form what makes the reading more approachable. I found the author knowledgeable of problems inside the Vatican, as his predication of what the challanges may be in the 21st Century, in my opinion, align with what we really see in church today. Nothing was written about the Swiss guard what I found surprising.

[Mike Hess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated, not very relevant today.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Albeit a bureaucratic minefield, this book is a great service for those who
desire an in-depth and exhaustive explanation on how the Vatican/Holy See / Catholic church sees itself and is governed