When in Rome: A Journal of Life in Vatican City - Softcover

Hutchinson, Robert J. J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385486472 ISBN 13: 9780385486477

Publisher: Crown, 1998

Synopsis

When in Rome is a backstairs tour of one of the world's most mysterious and eccentric cities. Hutchinson introduces the varied and colorful individuals who live and work in the Vatican. In the process, he explores the mysterious orders of medieval knights, some dating back to the First Crusade, which still play a vital role in the Vatican; explains how bumbling Vatican archaeologists found, and then lost, the bones of St. Peter; probes the sex lives of the popes, from the "pornocracy" of Sergius III to the incestuous orgies of Rodrigo Borgia; experiences high fashion in the Holy See, including a visit to the pope's personal tailor; encounters the weird relics of Catholicism, such as the mummified body of St. Pius X and a museum made entirely out of human bones; recounts the true story behind the True Cross, now kept in a run-down church near the Colosseum; and much, much more.

About this title

Review:

: The Vatican: one of the oldest, most powerful, and secretive establishments in the world. But what is it really like? American religious affairs journalist Robert Hutchinson moved to Rome for a year, with his wife and three small children, to try to get to the heart of the Roman Catholic Church. When in Rome is the fascinating story of his investigation.

This is no dry history of the Church, no dull catalogue of hierarchies. What makes this book so enjoyable is that it is a travelogue, a journal of a personal journey of discovery, telling of the delights and the frustrations of the author's exploration of Rome and his attempts to find out more about the centre of the Roman Catholic Church. Rome is a complicated, cluttered, clamorous city, the centre of its own universe. It's intensely bureaucratic; to visit anywhere, to meet anyone, it seems that dozens of forms have to be filled in. And journalists in particular are regarded with suspicion.

But Hutchinson perseveres. He doesn't manage to get to many top officials, but he has fascinating conversations with all sorts of other people, from an outrageous character who is the Vatican's official Latin expert, to the tailors who make cardinals' outfits; he gets into the Vatican Archives and the Vatican Observatory; he even goes to Handel's Messiah and sits five feet away from the pope. This is a fun book about Rome, full of fascinating, often scurrilous details from the history of the Vatican. --David V Barrett

About the Author:

Robert J. Hutchinson studied philosophy as an undergraduate, moved to Israel to learn Hebrew, and earned a graduate degree in theology and New Testament studies. He has written six books of popular history and travel. He lives with his wife and children in a small seaside town on the west coast.

About this edition

• Publisher: Crown
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0385486472
• ISBN 13: 9780385486477
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304