The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death and Salvation Audiobook (Unabridged)

" It just lost me. "

" Really interesting information "

" Really interesting book...it's about Pope Celestine V who was Pope in the Middle Ages but there is so much that is relevant to our lives today. "

" I had forgotten about this book until I shared it with my dad several months ago. It is about a monk, Peter Morrone, who became the most powerful person in the Catholic Church and then abdicated from the papacy. One of the comments in a review states, "This long-forgotten saga is rightly restored to its place as one of the most unusual episodes in the entire history of the church." In light of the current situation in Rome, it seems very timely to share this title again. "

" I bought this book on the theory that it would hold some relevance to the resignation of Benedict XVI; however, that was not the case. There is actually very little about Celestine and the details of his brief papal rule. Sweeney does provide some good contextual information regarding the period, but much of the information included in this work comes across as filler. Ultimately, my problem with this work is with some factually incorrect statements on pp 137 & 186. In both instances, Sweeney makes an absolute statement that no popes had ever resigned prior to Celestine V. This is factually incorrect as Pontian, Benedict IX and Gregory VI all left the office prior to death through resignation/abdication. "

" I was fascinated by the story of Morrone's life. Sweeney did an incredible job of tying together the conspiracy theories with the hagiographers' work and finally with pieces of Peter's own autobiography. Celestine's story truly is a lesson in good vs. evil. "

" Not well written. Interesting story, I guess, but the writing kept getting in the way of the topic. As a work of non-fiction, I was also disappointed in the lack of citations for the claims made. "

" Interesting history of the papacy and the culture of the Middle Ages, but just not as much about Celestine V and the details of his short reign as pope that I thought there would be. "

" I am a bit biased, but I think this book is pretty terrific. I know that writing it was a labor of love for the author, as he worked to understand the mysterious papa angelico, the enigmatic Celestine V. "

" Much more a history book than the subtitle would have one believe; still an interesting story of the medieval church. "

" Maybe 3 1/2. There were lots of good parts, but it was overhyped, and did not really get exciting until halfway through. "

" glad i read it. spead through the last third. learned some things. always good to learn! catholicism or whatever is so bizaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar. just like politics. power power power. "

" Interesting historical perspective on a very secretive and powerful position. Lost its compelling story toward the end. "

" A very timely book given that the Pope just resigned. There is a lot of historical details about many popes in the book but it was easy to read. It provided an excellent history of why the election of a new Pope is handled the way it is today. The author did a lot of research for the book. "

" This was an interesting story, but (understandably) by no means was there enough material for a whole book. "

" This book while an interesting subject was written for the high school set which I found disappointing. "

" I enjoyed the history,but the actual information regarding Celestine V was really limit. "

" An extremely quick read and easy to follow. Includes a short summary of all of the popes who may have been murdered, etc. Celestine V reigned only for a few weeks in 1294. "

" I'm invested in the story of Celestine V, and this book did an ok job of telling it. Its definitely written for a general audience, and in that respect, I think it does what it needs to do. "

" Interesting on a rare subject, but loosely written. I'd like more citations and detail and less random speculation. "