Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy.Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy The office of the Pope is called the Papacy. In addition to his spiritual role as head of the Catholic Church, the Pope also has a temporal role as Head of State of the independent sovereign State of the Vatican City, a city-state and nation entirely enclaved by the city of Rome. Roger Collins (Basic Books, 2009, 566pp) This dense book gives readers an in-depth look at the history of one of the world's most long-standing, influential and controversial institutions: the papacy papacy (pā`pəsē), office of the pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church. He is pope by reason of being bishop of Rome and thus, according to Roman Catholic belief, successor in the see of Rome (the Holy See) to its first bishop, St. Peter. . Religious scholar Roger Collins starts with the first bishop of Rome and founder of Christianity, St. Peter. From there, Collins moves from pope to pope recalling the history with impeccable im·pec·ca·ble adj. 1. Having no flaws; perfect. See Synonyms at perfect. 2. Incapable of sin or wrongdoing. [Latin impecc detail. Not only a history, this book looks at how the papal pa·pal adj. 1. Of, relating to, or issued by a pope: the papal succession; a papal bull. 2. Of or relating to the Roman Catholic Church. seat has shaped the world throughout the past 2,000 years. |
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