Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes

by Charles A. Coulombe

Tracing the history of the papacy from ancient times to the present day, this illuminating study features detailed profiles of each pope, describing the events of their reign, their role in relation to Catholic doctrine, their accomplishments and failures, and other aspects of each man who ruled the Vatican.

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

492 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

Roy-Charles A. Coulombe is an American Catholic author, historian, and lecturer. Coulombe is known for his advocacy of monarchism.

Reviews

[Reader Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a good book. For mostly two reasons.

The major reason is the structure. It reads like a phone directory to a degree. You go through popes one by one and get a page or more on each one. It’s akin to 3 bullet points on each pope (maybe 5 for consequential popes) but after 10 popes, you’ve got 40 disconnected bullet points. There’s no arc, no story. Eamon Duffy’s Saints and Sinners is MUCH better. Duffy shows you how the papacy is changing, telling stories and, well, history where individual popes play big roles but sometimes not worrying about covering inconsequential popes to the same degree. Instead you see the power struggle with the emperors and how this changes over time, the fight to hold onto the papal estates, the shock of modernity and attempts to reject it (and later to reconcile more). A much better book.

The second issue is Coulombe is wedded to the official Catholic story at all turns. You don’t want the opposite of course but you need a judicious author to bring some skepticism to a human institution. Duffy again does a better job. He’s a devout Catholic but also a very good historian.

[Gabriel Gonçalves de Oliveira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uma aula de história

O livro escrito por Charles A. Coulombe vai aos primórdios da história da Igreja Católica, e traz de forma resumida a história de todos aqueles que assumiram a cátedra de São Pedro, também citando os "anti-papas" dos períodos turbulentos da história da Igreja. Não só traz fatos interessantes como contextualiza o leitor dos acontecimentos históricos que envolviam não só a Europa como grande parte do mundo, desde a queda de Roma para os bárbaros, as invasões mussulmanas, o descobrimento das Américas, até a primeira e segunda guerras mundiais.

Tirando alguns problemas na nomenclatura de alguns Papas (numerais romanos sendo apresentados de forma errado, levando a confusão na identificação de alguns Papas como são vários que compartilham mesmo nome), este livro é um prato cheio para os amantes de história e os fiéis que estejam interessados em aprender mais sobre a história da Igreja.

[Kellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After traveling to Italy and visiting Rome, watching the movie “Conclave” and witnessing the actual conclave and nomination of Pope Leo, I decided I needed to read a book about the history of the Popes.
So after a brief time researching the best book to read, I chose this one.
Not sure if it was right choice.
The book starts with St Peter as our 1st pope and then it takes off from there.
A few things I learned.
Some of the early popes were martyrs. They were killed, beheaded because the current leader was threatened by the Catholic/Christian religion.
Popes did not hold the position for very long. A few years, a few months, a few days…The longest rein was Pius XI ~17 years
There is a lot of history in this book. The author assumes the reader knows all the leaders and the countries they led. I did not.It probably would have taken me another 2 months to finish this book if I had to look up all the leaders mentioned in this book.
The Pope was a lot more involved in the conflicts of the world historically, than they are today. They also had more power.
Today’s Pope is challenged with the decrease in morality across the globe, internally as well as outside. I hope it can be fixed.

I am very glad I read this book and I will keep the book for future reference.
It was a challenge but interesting.

[Shaun Lyons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hugely informative, albeit a little depressing

[Emma Dargue · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was quite interesting to look at each pope in turn. Quite cool.

[Roger Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with everything Charles writes, this is infused with his rich, always fascinating and staunchly faithful Catholicism. Really, the author brings a rare magic to this and his other Counter-Revolutionary books - some of which I've reviewed at my own Counter-Revolutionary traditional Catholic website:

http://corjesusacratissimum.org

Shameless plug! But I do believe that those who love Charles Coulombe's work, like I do, may also find things of interest at the link above.

[M.R. Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and informative, but the last fifth of the book or so fails to live up to the author's promise of non-bias. Up to that point, though, it is a useful resource.