Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church

From a former New York Times investigative reporter, a revelatory look at the struggles inside the modern Catholic Church, told through the lives of the last seven popes

When the jolly Italian peasant-turned-cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli of Venice was elected Pope John XXIII in 1958, change was in the air. The Church, many said, had refused to enter the 20th century. In response, Pope John launched Vatican II, an “ecumenical council” that summoned hundreds of church leaders to Rome. It marked one of the most progressive turns the Church had taken in centuries: “medicine of mercy,” as Pope John called it. Yet, not everyone in the Church was prepared to accept this modernization. The battle lines were drawn. 

In Jesus Wept, Philip Shenon takes us inside the Holy See to reveal its intricacies, hypocrisies, and hidden maneuverings, bringing all the momentous disputes vividly to life: priestly celibacy, birth control, homosexuality, restoring ties with other Christians and Jews, shameful sex abuse crimes, the role of women in the Church. In his rich portrayals of the popes from John to Francis, Shenon draws on research across four continents, including hundreds of interviews and the exhaustive use of archives. He also brings to light other key figures in the Church, such as Cardinal Ottaviani, the incredibly powerful, conservative, and staunchly anti-communist director of the Holy Office under Pius XII, who lived proudly by the motto Semper Idem—“Always the Same.” A consummate, vibrant history of the modern Church.