Author Description

The papacy of the Roman Catholic Church is the world's oldest continuous institution. Paul Collins, historian and inveterate Vatican watcher, has looked beyond the details of this astonishing parade of over 260 popes to uncover the dynamics of papal power. He argues that if it was service that characterised papal leadership in the first millennium, power is what has characterised it in the second. He traces the developments in theory and reality that have lead to a modern papacy that exercises virtually sole and total rule over the world's largest religious community. Collin's provocative new study proposes a new model in the Catholic Church as it enters its third millennium - one that would allow all Catholics to participate in the work and decision-making of the Church. Paul Collins is Australia's most controversial and respected commentator on the Catholic Church. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School and the Australian National University, he is a priest, historian, and broadcaster. Dr. Collins is also former Specialist Editor of Religion for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. His other publications include Mixed Blessings and God's Earth. He is currently completing a popular history of the popes.