David A. Yallop (1937–2018)

This is ire and nausea inducing, the litany of abuse and coverup and the fact that it's not a modern phenomena but the lax punishment, if any, is against earlier teachings and is an example of how the Catholic Church today is it's own worst enemy.

Every organisation needs checks and balances and also needs to ensure that the good people who work within it aren't tarred with the same brush as the abusers. The Church needs to work on fixing it's problems, particularly how it treats abusers and show more victims and stop trying to pretend that it's a new or isn't endemic and this book is a good first step in looking at it.

Not an easy read, made me both sad and angry. show less

I read this some time back and wholeheartedly bought into Yallop's thesis; that dark forces at the Vatican conspired to murder Pope John Paul I due to his liberal bent. "In God's Name" is well written and persuasive and for a while I was convinced that something nefarious had happened to the Pope but the longer one reflects on the story, the less likely it becomes. Because really, the fact that the Pope was an old man with a history of health issues is a far more logical way to die than show more being bumped off by shadowy nuns. show less

Still gives me chills years after I first read it. As the subtitle says this is an amazingly comprehensive investigation into enormous scandals that had come to the fore just as John Paul 1 was chosen as the new Pope, as well as an examination into the circumstances of his death a few weeks later.

Determined to end the corruption in the Vatican Bank and other areas of the Church hierarchy, the new Pope demanded immediate action. A handful of hours later, thishealthy man was found dead.

Yallop show more posits that his death was no act of God but rather the work of horribly corrupt officials within the Vatican. It is a shocking charge, but after you read this massive and impeccably researched book, it's difficult not to at least wonder if there is something to all this. Certainly plenty of Popes have been offed throughout history -- are we really so convinced of the human march of progress that we believe that it is impossible that a Pope could be assassinated through Vatican intrigue in the 20th Century?

And given the deep split between the conservative cardinals and the reformists, as well as the billions of dollars at stake in the Vatican Bank scandal, there were certianly plenty of people with motives.

Truly a remarkable piece of research and an engaging narrative. show less

A really powerful book that explores the seamier side of John Paul 2's Vatican. Written by the author of In God's Name, the precisely researched book identifies unseemly actions and inactions in many areas. From Vatican finances to the deplorable priest scandal and the Church's incessant efforts to obfuscate and delay legal action, the book points out a pattern of unethical behavior that is both shocking and encyclopedic.

The Vatican Bank scandal was better chronicled in the author's previous show more book. But the tremendous level of detail that he provides to the 2000 years long priest scandal and the Pope's unwillingness to address it shows a bureaucracy that I am certain Christ would find impossible to countenance.

It has been said that the goal of any bureaucracy is self perpetuation. Yallop offers up ample evidence that in the case of the church, this appears to be true. show less