Saints and Sinners: The History of the Popes

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[edit] General Information

History Documentary hosted by John Morgan, published by S4C in 2005 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

The history of the Papacy parallels the history of Western civilization itself, from the founding of the Church nearly 2,000 years ago by Peter through the end of the second Millennium and the reign of Pope John Paul II. In that time, the Church has become one of the most enduring and influential of all human institutions, outliving great empires and shaping the political and moral destinies of nations and continents. The papacy started in 30 A.D. when Jesus Christ declared that Simon Bar-Jona would be called Peter (rock). It was on that "rock" the Catholic Church was built and a legacy of 263 popes would follow St. Peter. For the first four centuries, being named the Bishop of Rome often meant exile, imprisonment, torture, or martyrdom. As Christianity gained adherents among the rich and powerful the papal seat became one of global influence. Saints and Sinners: The History of the Popes, produced with the cooperation of the Vatican, explores this rich and compelling history, revealing the crucial roles and human dimensions of the Popes, the saints and sinners who have led the Roman Catholic Church over the past 2000 years, unlocking the great stories of devotion, sacrifice and betrayal, politics and intrigue, and great artistic and cultural achievement. Produced by Opus Television for S4C International and Channel 4 Wales Television, UK in Association with RTE Ireland and La 5 France

[edit] Upon this Rock (c.AD 33–461)

Round the dome of St Peter's basilica in Rome, in letters six feet high, are Christ's words to Peter from chapter sixteen of Matthew's Gospel: "Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam et tibi dabo claves regni coelorum" (Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church and I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven). Set there to crown the grave of the Apostle, hidden far below the high altar, they are also designed to proclaim the authority of the man whom almost a billion Christians look to as the living heir of Peter. How did a humble Galilean fisherman become the figurehead and foundation stone of the papal dynasty? Why did the Christian Church collapse in Jerusalem and how did Rome become its new center?
UPON THIS ROCK attempts to answer these questions. From Nero's persecution of the apostles Peter and Paul, to Christianity's triumph as the official religion of the Roman Empire, this program examines the early Church and traces the development of papal authority in the first five centuries.

[edit] Between Two Empires (461-1000)

The second chapter covers a period that non-Christians call "the dark ages" (461-1000) but that saw foundational developments in the history of the church. In the year 476 the last Emperor of the West was deposed by the Germanic General Odoacer the Rugian, and Italy became a barbarian kingdom. The change from empire to kingdom, from toga to trousers, however, was to take generations to make its full imaginative impact. The barbarian kings of Italy pursued their own interests, but they ruled, to begin with at least, in the name of the distant Emperor in Constantinople, maintaining and honouring the Roman Senate, and accepting the honorific title 'Patrician of the Romans'. BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES focuses on the developing role of the Papacy as a religious and political force during the conversion of Europe to Christianity. Arguably the greatest Pope ever, Gregory the Great presided over over the spread of Christianity to England and Northern Europe. But this period of prosperity didn't last. The seventh century was consumed with divisions in the Church and a rapid turnover of leaders -- a state that was only worsened by the Popes of the ninth and tenth centuries, who led the Papal institution into true moral decadence. That decline to thugs, bandits and womanisers was typified by the outrageous Pope John XII -who was "elected" at the ripe age of eighteen.

[edit] Set Over Nations (1000 -1447)

At the opening of the eleventh century the papacy was a contradictory mixture of exalted theory and squalid reality. In theory the bishops of Rome were lords of the world, exercising a unique spiritual supremacy symbolised by their exclusive right to anoint the western or 'Holy Roman' Emperor. In practice, the popes were strictly and often humiliatingly subordinated to the power of the local Roman aristocracy, or to the German ruling house. From the tenth century onwards, new forces of reform swept through the Church in the West, cleansing, renewing and freeing Christianity from corruption, bribery and abuse. Reform brought with it conflict between the Church and the Holy Roman Emperor, instigated by Pope Gregory VII. The age of the Inquisition and the Crusades followed, giving rise to a new confrontation between Christianity and Islam.
SET OVER NATIONS concludes with a consideration of the disastrous effect of the Papacy's move from Rome to Avignon in France.

[edit] Protest and Division (1447 - 1774)

Corruption reared its ugly head again during the Renaissance, which was also when the Popes were confronted with the massive task of reconstructing Rome in the wake of the Great Schism. The Renaissance papacy evokes images of a Hollywood spectacular, all decadence and drag. Contemporaries viewed Renaissance Rome as a city of expense-account whores and political graft, where everything and everyone had a price, where nothing and nobody could be trusted. The popes themselves seemed to set the tone. Rodrigo Borgia, who was was proclaimed Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) flaunted a young and nubile mistress in the Vatican, was widely believed to have made a habit of poisoning his cardinals so as to get his hands on their property, and he ruthlessly aggrandised his illegitimate sons and daughters at the Church's expense.
Under such notorious figures the Church simultaneously reached a pinnacle cultural greatness and a pit of spiritual degradation. Then came the Reformation led by an unknown monk, Martin Luther. The Catholic Church fought back with the Counter Reformation and plunged Europe into religious wars

[edit] The Pope and the People (1774 - 1903)

The modern era, ushered in by the French Revolution, inaugurated a new series of challenges for the Popes, forcing them to accept a new secular "liberal" state in favor of a pluralist society. By the 1780s, every Catholic state in Europe wanted to reduce the Pope to a ceremonial figurehead, and most had succeeded. Kings and princes appointed bishops and abbots, dictated which feast days would be observed and which ignored, policed or prevented appeals to Rome, vetted the publication of papal utterances. This was a theological as well as a political phenomenon. Under the influence of Jansenism and a growing Catholic interest in the early Church many theologians emphasised the supremacy of the bishop in the local church.
THE POPE AND THE PEOPLE focuses on the denunciation of these secular values by Pope Pius IX and the subsequent attempts of Leo XIII to lead the Church into the 20th Century in a spirit of progress, realistic diplomacy and conciliation.

[edit] The Oracle of God (1903 - 1997)

At the dawn of the twentieth century, the fortunes of the Papacy seemed at an all time low. The Pope was beleaguered and landless, the Prisoner of the Vatican. With the election of the son of a village postman as Pope in 1903, the expectations of a modern Papacy were turned on their head. His mission was to raise issues that would continue to resonate throughout this century and create dilemmas for the Catholic Church. Paradoxically, the spiritual power of the Pope had grown to dizzying heights. The Pope was infallible, the unquestioned head and heart of the greatest of the Christian churches, spiritual father of millions of human beings, revered from Asia to the Americas as the oracle of God. This power would be challenged time and again by the modern world.
THE ORACLES OF GOD concludes the series with a review of the challenges facing the Papacy both inside and beyond the Catholic Church following the death of Pope John Paul II as it prepares to enter its third Millennium.

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[edit] Technical Specs

Video Codec: H.264 CABAC High@L3.1
Video Bitrate: 1 732 Kbps
Video Resolution: 960x540
Display Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Frames Per Second: 25.000 fps
Audio Codec: E-AC3
Audio Bitrate: 224 kb/s CBR 48000 Hz
Audio Streams: 2
Audio Languages: english
RunTime Per Part: 50 min
Number Of Parts: 6
Part Size: 633 MB - 897 MB
Source: WEB DL
Capper: DocFreak08