Product Description

In 1984, David Yallop's "In God's Name" changed the way that the world looked at the Vatican. In "The Power and The Glory", David Yallop returns to Rome with another explosive story: the true history of the papacy of John Paul II. From the first moment of his papacy, Karol Wojtyla sought political influence and a role on the world stage. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, he was a leader to millions of Catholics at a time of tremendous change. Promising a renewed church, he was the first media Pope and travelled around the world to preach his message. It is said that he was central in the fall of Soviet Eastern Europe, in particular within his own homeland of Poland. Now, as the second anniversary of his death the demands for John Paul's beatification and subsequent canonisation continue unabated. But has the real truth of this Papacy been revealed? This work: contains explosive revelations from the CIA, the KGB, the Polish secret service and the most secretive place on earth, the Vatican itself; tells for the first time John Paul II's real involvement in the fall of the Iron Curtain and the liberation of Poland; uncovers the myth of the Holy Alliance between Reagan's America and the Vatican; exposes the true extent of the Pope's failure to control the child abuse scandal; and, explores the continued financial scandal involving the Vatican bank, the mafia, Freemasonry, illegal money laundering and arms sales.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #449088 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Morning Star
`An extraordinary book'

Tribune Tribune
`Extraordinary and revelatory book'

About the Author
David Yallop is a highly regarded 'seeker of justice'; he has investigated, written and over-turned opinion with every book he has written. In 1983 he published In God's Name, which revealed the amazing truth behind the murder of John Paul I.

Customer Reviews

A Matter of History
Murder in the Vatican: The Revolutionary Life of John Paul and The CIA, Opus Dei and the 1978 Murders

`The Power and the Glory' hangs this pope's dirty laundry out for all to see. His cover-up of pedophile priests, his policies driving a rich and poor society, his suppression of the uprisings of the poor in Latin America, his ban on contraception which drove poverty and disease in third world countries along with dozens of other items of his soiled underwear. I was surprised this book overlooks what may have been John Paul's greatest sin: he may have known of, if not been involved in, the conspiracy that led to the death of his predecessor; a hypothesis for which Lucien Gregoire's `Murder in the Vatican' presents compelling evidence (JohnPaul1 org).

Yet, Yallop does not deal with compelling evidence and hypothesis. His world is facts. `The Power and the Glory' is the other half of this pope's biography which has never been written. There are scores of `biographies' of John Paul II that show only his `good' side. In fact, most of them add things that never happened to embellish his `holy' image. Not a one of them hints at any of the things Yallop has to say; the shady side of the man; the facts. Things we know actually happened. Things his many biographers make believe never happened.

Most of his followers think of David Yallop as an investigative reporter. I think of him as an historian.

Murder in the Vatican: The Revolutionary Life of John Paul and The CIA, Opus Dei and the 1978 Murders

Investigative writing at its best
This lengthy book is an account of the John-Paul II years, but with the rose-tinted glasses removed. David Yallop has assembled an incredible amount of material to present the behind the scenes story of what really went on in the Vatican, particularly focusing on the fall of communism, the scandals that beset the Vatican Bank, and the child-abuse scandal for which the Catholic Church has become a by-word in recent years. But the main focus is on John-Paul himself and the man behind the myth.

The book is biographical to a degree and demolishes quite a few myths about John-Paul, not least the story of his war-years when far from rescuing Jews from Nazism as the official story goes, he was closeted away in protected employment and had little to do with resistance or rescue operations. Although John-Paul abhorred the communist system as such, once he became Pope, he adopted the usual Vatican diplomacy line of working with communist states rather than trying to destroy them. The eventual fall of communism was far more to do with Russian President Gorbachev than the then Pope. John-Paul II had a blind spot about liberation theology and this prompted him to follow the Reagan line of supporting extreme right-wing governments in South America rather than working with his own priests to relieve the suffering of the poor.

Yallop is particularly strong on the Vatican Bank and Banco Ambrosiano scandals and it is depressing to see how the upper echelons of the Vatican were totally embroiled in money-laundering and cover-ups, with Pope John-Paul refusing to do anything to remove those indulging in blatantly criminal behaviour. But it is sections of Yallop's book which deal with the child abuse scandal which are the most depressing. The Pope stuck clearly to the line of "every family must have private rooms to discuss family matters", and he repeatedly put the attempt to preserve the reputation of the church before the rights to justice of those who had suffered at the hands of so many Catholic priests.

This is not a happy read, but for anyone who has an interest in the Catholic Church it is essential reading. Of course Pope John-Paul II will soon be made a Saint but the church he presided over, but no-one who has read this book will rejoice over this elevation. It is even more depressing that the current Pope is entirely of the same mould as John-Paul II and is pursuing much the same policies.

Fantastic Insight on the Vatican
Absolutely brilliant book covering the "reign" of Pope John Paul II and his high handed authoritarian style. Why we should be surprised I don't know but it is still shocking to read of the corruption that is rife in this appalling organisation. Child abuse, money laundering, the Mafia, political interference, cover ups, downright lying, Nazi collaboration etc etc. There are some marvellous passages about the Churches attitude to wealth and how it's fine for them to be loaded at the expense of the congregations. Tony Blair has recently converted. Cormack Murphy O'Connor was the master of ceremonies for the event. I wonder if TB has read the sections about the paedophile cover ups? Highly recommended.