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John L. Allen
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The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs to Know® Kindle Edition

by John L. Jr. Allen (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
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Roman Catholicism stands at a crossroads, a classic ''best of times, worst of times'' moment. On the one hand, the Catholic Church remains by far the largest branch of the worldwide Christian family, and is growing at a remarkable clip. Yet the Church has also been rocked by a series of scandals related to the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, and, even more devastating, the cover-up by the Church hierarchy. The decade-long crisis has taken a massive financial toll, but the blow to both the internal morale and the external moral standing of the Church has been even steeper. Today, the Church has enormous residual strength and exciting future prospects, but also faces steep internal and external challenges. The question of ''whither Catholicism'' is of vital public relevance, for believers and non-believers alike. In The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs to Know, John L. Allen, Jr., one of the world's leading authorities on the Vatican, offers an authoritative and accessible guide to the past, present, and future of the Church. This updated edition includes a new chapter on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the election of Pope Francis, and his extraordinary tenure thus far.
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  1. Part of series
    What Everyone Needs To Know?
  2. Print length
    332 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  6. Publication date
    March 3, 2014
  7. File size
    1795 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
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  10. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW About This Series

Who it's for:

Busy people with diverse interests, ranging from college students to professionals, who wish to inform themselves in a succinct yet authoritative manner about a particular topic.

What's inside:

An incisive approach to a complex and timely issue, laid out in a straight-forward, question-and-answer format.

Meet Our Authors

Top experts in their given fields, ranging from an Economist correspondent to a director at the Council on Foreign Relations, you can trust our authors’ expertise and guidance.

Popular Topics in the "What Everyone Needs to Know" Series

  • International Politics
  • Environmental Policies
  • World History
  • Sciences & Math
  • Religion & Spirituality

Review

Reviews of the previous edition:

"An excellent handbook for those who want (or need) to know more about the Catholic Church and for those who think they already know it all." -- Publishers Weekly

"John Allen is the English-speaking world's most informed, most insightful and most balanced commentator on the Roman Catholic Church today."--America

''Paints a fair-minded picture of the Roman Catholic strain of the faith, its beliefs, its worship and its structures. [Allen] gets behind the image of stern Catholic uniformity and begins to show what a remarkably diverse body this really is.'' --Times Literary Supplement

"Allen's engaging writing keeps readers' attention and interest... Highly recommended." --CHOICE

"The best Anglophone Vatican reporter ever."--George Weigel, author of Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II

"The journalist other reporters-and not a few cardinals-look to for the inside story on how all the pope's men direct the world's largest church."--Kenneth Woodward, Newsweek

"The most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language."--The Tablet

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00I9G8EQO
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Updated edition (March 3, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 3, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1795 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 332 pages
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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John L. Allen

John L. Allen

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JOHN L. ALLEN, Jr., is the Associate Editor for Crux, a web site covering the Catholic Church, and the Boston Globe. He also serves as senior Vatican analyst for CNN and is a popular speaker on Catholic affairs. He's published nine books and divides his year between Rome and his home in Denver, Colorado.

Find Crux at: www.cruxnow.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
52 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book comprehensive and simple, with a question and answer style. They also say it's the greatest single resource for understanding.

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ComprehensivenessQuestion and answer style
3 customers mention "Comprehensiveness"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book comprehensive, informative, and credible. They also say it's the greatest single resource for understanding.

"...It is probably the greatest single resource I have found for understanding Catholicism and the Catholic Church...." Read more

"...theology and other areas, I found this book very accurate and informative and I believe without any doubt, this book will help people who wants to..." Read more

"An absolutely wonderful, informative and credible book about a much misunderstood religion...." Read more

3 customers mention "Question and answer style"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the question and answer style of the book simple, clear, and concise. They also say the jargon is explained.

"...It's written in simple, question and answer style, and all jargon is explained in plain language...." Read more

"Everything that I have ever read by John Allen has been clear, concise, pointed (at the topic), and challenging to everything we have believed for..." Read more

"Found the book interesting, well written in the style we are accustomed to with John Allen. Easier to read than many books on the same subject." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Charles Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars The Catholic Church: What Everyone Need to Know
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
John Allen is already known as the best English-language reporter covering the Catholic Church today. Any of his many books are worth reading. But his latest, The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs To Know, is fantastic. It is probably the greatest single resource I have found for understanding Catholicism and the Catholic Church. It's written in simple, question and answer style, and all jargon is explained in plain language. This book would have been perfect for the many reporters covering the recent conclave. But given the Church always seems to be in the news it should still be read by anyone in the media. For everyone else, Catholic or non-Catholic, it will increase your knowledge of one of the world's great institutions. Allen writes for the National Catholic Reporter. But even though he's associated with a Catholic paper he remains the most balanced reporter on Church issues. He never white washes the sins but nor does he shrink from celebrating what is great about the Church. I have read many books on Catholicism and the Church and this by a mile is the finest.
28 people found this helpful
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G.Silva
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book!
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2013
Verified Purchase
I have to congratulate the author and totally recommend this book.
Being an educated member of the Catholic Church in history, theology and other areas, I found this book very accurate and informative and I believe without any doubt, this book will help people who wants to understand not only what we believe as catholics but how our church works inside.
Great quick and to the point course is Catholicism.
Great book!
9 people found this helpful
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Adam Shields
4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful information, annoying format
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2013
Over the past year or so I have been reading more about the Catholic church as I know several people that have converted or have been considering it. So I am not coming to this book with no knowledge of the Catholic church. However, the quantity of useful information in the book is very high. And John Allen is a good writer. He is clear, succinct and knowledgable about the subject.

What makes me mark the book down is that the entire books is in a question and answer format. This would have been good for the introduction and maybe one or two chapters. But after a while it is just annoying. Especially later chapters that focus on the future of the church and current challenges would have been better served with a long form narrative instead of shorter question and answer format.

I also liked that Allen spent a good bit of time not just on what the idea of the church is, but how it is in reality. So I learned a lot, I read it quickly and on the whole enjoyed it. I just wish an editor had told him to change the overall format of the book.

______
The publisher provided me a digital copy of the book for evaluation and review.
20 people found this helpful
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Joe O.
5.0 out of 5 stars A Catholic Reader for Today
Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2013
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Everything that I have ever read by John Allen has been clear, concise, pointed (at the topic), and challenging to everything we have believed for all our lives. A must read for homilists who wish to express our Faith in modern thoughts.
One person found this helpful
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Frank
5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Look at the 21st Century Catholic Church
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2013
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This is an excellent book for both new and "cradle" Catholics. It clearly presents the current status of Catholicism in plain language. Allen goes to great lengths to be fair, to consider the faith from all possible vantage points: liberal, conservative, traditional, and ecumenical. I have only one suggestion: publish a second edition that reflects the election of Pope Francis and his mark on the church to date.
5 people found this helpful
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James F Mahon III
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended for anyone who wants to know how the Church ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2014
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No nonense overview of the Catholic Church. Can't think of a question that I had about the Church that it didn't answer. Recommended for anyone who wants to know how the Church does and does not fiction as an organization.
One person found this helpful
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Patrick Mugabeni
5.0 out of 5 stars Wide-bodied book on the Catholic Church
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2017
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Highly recommended on the matter of the church and the goings-on. Fair critiquing in most areas though they appears as the others opinions in a few places.
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TERRY OLIVERI
2.0 out of 5 stars The church and its secrets
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2013
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Interesting history on the Catholic church. It's recent problems as well as its sense of being constantly backwards regarding women priests and allowing priest to marry. The protection of pedofile priest by just moving from one parish to another is also an interesting read
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

C. M. Tan Ong
4.0 out of 5 stars The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs to Know
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2014
Verified Purchase
Easy to read, provides me with some more information I didn't already know.
I haven't finished reading the book yet ... but I think I'll come to the same conclusion!~
Could you send me more other titles in this category??
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