[.ca] The Rise of Benedict XVI: The Inside Story of How the ... (ISBN 0385513216)

Phenomenal beginning, mediocre middle, forgettable end:
During a recent retreat in a Benedictine monastery I decided to bring along a book to pass the time, about another important figure named Benedict: John Allen's work The Rise of Benedict XVI. I have great respect for John Allen and his writing, and so I eagerly devoured the text. The subtitle of the book touts it as "the inside story of how the Pope was elected and where he will take the Catholic Church". As a general overview of my review, let me say that the book is gripping, mediocre, and forgettable - it just depends on which part you are reading. The first three chapters of the book constitute the part that is gripping. It is here that Allen describes the last days of the pontificate of John Paul II, the remarkable funeral and the interregnum period. As I read these chapters I felt like I was reliving some of the most intense days of my priesthood, days when I would spend hours in front of the TV watching for the latest news or analysis, or when (even more strikingly, at least for me) I would get to the part of the Eucharistic Prayer when the name of the Pope would be mentioned, and I would have to pass over it in silence. John Allen is to be commended for having put to paper a complete yet human account of those heady days. The next two chapters describe the conclave in which Cardinal Ratzinger was elected to the chair of Peter, as well as present a brief biography of Pope Benedict XVI. In all honesty, these chapters are mediocre. I have already provided a book review for Robert Moynihan's Let God's Light Shine Forth, which presents a far superior one-chapter biography of Pope Benedict. As well, despite Allen's own reputation for thoroughness regarding the conclave details, I believe one must take such presentations with a grain of salt. While I was on my retreat I had a chance to chat with a Cardinal Archbishop who was at the conclave, and while he could not tell me any details about the conclave (having been sworn to secrecy) he was very dubious about some elements of Allen's account. I also happen to live with another Cardinal, my own archbishop, and he expressed similar reservations. At any rate, we can never really know, so the chapter is of really quite limited value. The last three chapters make up the forgettable part of the book. These are an attempt to predict where Benedict XVI will take the Catholic Church during his papacy. Give that the book was rushed to print just a few months after Pope Benedict was elected, these chapters were nothing less than a guess as to what might happen next. Given that almost two years have now passed, and not all these "predictions" have come true, this book has already become dated in at least this regard. As I say, forgettable. In conclusion, there is one thing I did notice that was missing from the book: an acknowledgment from John Allen that he had been wrong in his pre-conclave analysis regarding Cardinal Ratzinger's chances of getting elected. At one point Allen had put out a list of his picks for possible Pope - and Cardinal Ratzinger wasn't even on the list. It must have been embarrassing for one of the world's foremost experts on the Vatican to have been so wide off the mark. I suppose it is understandable that John Allen does not mention this mistake in his book, given that its sales depend in part on his continuing reputation as an expert, but I do believe a little bit of humility in this regard would have been a nice human touch.