‘The Vatican Diaries’ Last Book for Year of Faith, Meeting Oct. 30 at CherryVale Barnes & Noble

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When John Thavis gathered with fellow journalists at the Catholic Media Conference in June, he told them the book has some of the stories he couldn’t put in the Catholic News Service articles he was filing from Rome.
Thavis is the now-retired Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service, and his book, “The Vatican Diaries,” does live up to its subtitle — “A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church.”
Released last spring, “The Vatican Diaries” is the final selection for The Observer Book Club during the Year of Faith.
It came out just about the time Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI announced his retirement. That earned Thavis a spot as a “talking head” on several network news shows, sharing his  Vatican insights with television audiences across the U.S.

'The Vatican Diaries' goes beyond ‘papabili’ with insider’s look

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John Thavis, now-retired Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service, removes any doubt that “The Vatican Diaries” would, in fact, live up to its entire title, when he writes in the introduction: “The real Vatican is a place where cardinals crack jokes and lose their tempers, where each agency of the Roman Curia jealously guards its turf, where the little guys and big shots may work at cross-purposes and where slipups and misunderstandings are common.”

When it comes to power, personalities and politics, “Diaries” is reminiscent of Father Andrew Greeley’s “Making of the Pope 1978” and Peter Hebblethwaite’s “The Year of Three Popes,” both published in 1979. However, where they differ is that the people to whom Thavis introduces readers go beyond “papabili,” i.e., those who could be elected pope.

Msgr. Barr's book wins Readers Favorite award

Msgr. Eric Barr, vicar general of the Rockford Diocese, is a silver medalist in the 2013 Readers Favorite book awards.The book won in the Christian Fantasy/Sci-Fi category.

Writing as E.R. Barr, his Roan: The Tales of Conor Archer, Volume One, (Telemachus Press, ISBN 978-1937387662), twines Celtic and Native American myths to tell the tale of Conor Archer. (See our May 8 blog posting for more.)

The Readers Favorite awards will be presented in November in Florida. 

Read more about the book at www.erbarr.com.