Stori
This book focuses on explaining the history and practices that surround the Catholic Church. The author sets up the book in a style of question and answer after taking time to give an introduction on why he decided to discuss this large topic while giving his own credentials. Each chapter is broken down into different subcategories, such as, “Angels, Demons, and Saints” and “Catholicism and Sex”. The content within the book is thorough and each chapter is introduced with an unofficial foreword of the author.
I picked this book because I was hoping for a neutral book on information about the Church and Catholicism; because I don't remember my years of CCD and I needed a refresher. However, this book is anything but neutral. Not only was I aggravated by the author's obvious favoritism towards the Church's public image, but I also was disappointed in the biased information being given. While not the entire book was biased, majority of the answers to the questions were. It felt more like I was sitting in a lecture by a middle-aged, Catholic white male rather than being given basic information that I needed. For example, under the topic of the worst popes in the Church's history, the author described the atrocities that Pope Alexander VI, otherwise known as Rodrigo Borgia. This man was part of one of the most violent noble families of Italian history, but regardless of the knowledge and evidence against him, Allen states, “contemporaries regarded him as a capable diplomat and politician, whatever his moral failures” (60). In fact, it's a common theme for the author to attempt to sweep under the rug all the atrocities and dark past of the Church. He wrote, “statistically speaking, [Christians] are the most persecuted religious group on the planet” (11). However, he cited no source for this information, or any sources actually, which seems odd to me considering he is a Senior Vatican Analyst for CNN. Even further, upon research of my own, this fact was stated other times as well during the time of publishing of this book, by biased and unreliable sources. Nelson Jones in NewStatesman Magazine, on April 10, 2014, wrote, “It turned out, though, that the great majority of these deaths occurred during the long-running civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and thus could only indirectly (if at all) be described as Christian persecution”. It seems more that the author wants to shed a positive light on a religious institution that is known for its negativity against masses of people. In my personal opinion, it is important to discuss the dark parts of history in order to properly shed light on the good things that a person or organization can do. Ignoring or downplaying those past indiscretions doesn't help the case against the Catholic Church, it simply makes it easier to be averse to the religion. When it came to discussing the Crusades, Allen continued to downplay by simply stating, “While the crusaders did sometimes perpetrate horrific massacres upon the inhabitants of cities that had resisted their armies, this too was common practice” (65). I also found it discourageing that the author only answers the question but not its counterpart: What are the greatest moments in Catholic history? Instead he only cites the Crusades and the Inquisition when there are surely more than those two to mention. Considering this is a book on the Catholic Church and its history, one would assume that he would think to mention other negative aspects as well within the chapter titled, “Historical Highlights and Lowlights” and perhaps offer more information than what one could find elsewhere. With the lack of outside sourcing for any information provided, as well as his professional connection with the Church, this book was a complete disappointment to someone like me, who simply wanted simple, straight facts on the Church; not opinions.