THE POWER
AND THE GLORY The Rise and Reign of the Catholic Church By Louis Blachman The story of the Catholic Church is a story of power in its myriad complicated forms: spiritual, political, cultural. Seen by many as the oldest functioning institution on Earth, the Church’s history spans centuries and continents, from the Church’s foundation during the life of Christ to today’s Vatican City. As described in Catholic tradition, the founding was a transaction of power: Jesus said to the Apostle Peter, “I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). Jesus had established Heaven’s domain on Earth, the Church, and the keys were held by Peter the Apostle, the first pope. This Petrine primacy — Peter’s preëminence passi ng dow n th roug h ea ch successive pope — became the bedrock of the Church’s power.
Left: the jeweled triple tiara of Pope Pius IX, the last pope to rule over the Papal States.
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