Jesus wept is the shortest verse in the Bible (John 11:35). But it’s also the title of Philip Shenon’s meticulously researched account of the Catholic Church from Vatican II to the present. Shenon chronicles the seven popes that led the Catholic faith over the past 75 years and the internal struggles between a church whose membership yearned for modernization and openness and the bureaucracy that fought hard against it.
Starting with the end of Pius XII and continuing to Francis, Jesus Wept covers the lives and major events of the Catholic Church’s leadership. Shenon authoritatively discusses the reforms of Vatican II, the counter reform movements of the Catholic Curia, and the drive to silence voices who were outside of the Vatican hierarchy. John Paul II’s relationship with Benedict and Benedict’s increasing control of the church’s conservative thought are given significant coverage. Additional details dive into the church’s scandals around priest abuse of minors and the church’s attempts to cover up and keep those scandals under wraps.
Jesus Wept is a strong, powerful history of the modern Catholic Church and its struggles to modernize in a world that has rapidly changed since Vatican II.
MY RATING: 4
