The Vatican Prophecies

Investigating Supernatural Signs, Apparitions, and Miracles in the Modern Age

By: John Thavis

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Vatican Diaries comes a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how the Vatican investigates claims of miraculous events. Apocalyptic prophecies and miraculous apparitions are headline-grabbing events that often put the Catholic Church's doctrine of "rational faith" at odds with the passion of its more zealous followers. To some, these claims teeter on the edge of absurdity. Others see them as evidence of a private connection with God.

For the Vatican, the issue is much more nuanced, as each supposed miraculous event could have serious theological and political consequences. In response, the Vatican has developed a highly secretive and complex evaluation system to judge the authenticity of supernatural phenomena. Former journalist John Thavis uses his 30 years' experience covering the Vatican to shed light on this little-known process, revealing deep internal debates on the power of religious relics, private revelations, exorcisms, and more. Enlightening and accessible to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, the book illustrates the church's struggle to balance the tension between traditional beliefs and contemporary skepticism.

©2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2015 Blackstone Audiobooks

Mysticism

A good read for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Find out what the Church teaches on possession, miracles , sainthood etc. very informative and educational.

John Travis is a gifted author

A very informative and enjoyable book. I can't reccomend John Travis and his works enough

great

Very interesting. The Catholic church is really cool, it's the way to go. I love it. Be Catholic. Be cool beyond top be holy.

Great book!

great book that talks about supernatural phenomena and how the church's reacts to it. Goes enough into detail to get the general idea without boring you with facts.

Great totally informative

Accurate information about Vatican and pope data. Looking forward to more information about this area.

Great Read!

Easy to understand, good research, and well put together facts that kept me interested until the end.

An interesting, if eclectic, collection of stories and facts

Having also read the author’s other book on audible I found this title engaging and entertaining. It dealt with a topic on many peoples minds when it comes to the Vatican and Catholicism: that of the supernatural including visions, exorcism, etc. With that said it delves into a very wide variety of topics including Vatican astronomy efforts and the ongoing debate over extraterrestrial life. As such this book feels a bit less organized and more varied than the Vatican Diaries and thus, in my own opinion, a bit less gripping to the reader. Nonetheless it dispels many illusions and presents its topic in a measured and scholarly fashion that doesn’t cave to dismissive skepticism on one hand or religious fanaticism on the other. It sheds light on organizations, history, and individuals that are not often discussed and provides a wealth of information to anyone who is interested in the topic. Performed well, and highly enjoyable.

Took the air out of the balloon

Well, if you want to get confirmation that the church's relationship with the supernatural really is little to none, then this is your book. Exorcisms, saints, relics, idols, are explained well. The only really interesting possibility of something greater than humanity's norm is the Catholic church's embrace of non-human intelligence, one day making its way here from a place we are unfamiliar with.

Anti- Catholic

Beware this is an anti Catholic book hiding as an investigation into strange things that the Church has not condoned

Not as good as the title leads you to believe

I was initially excited to learn about the Vatican and its secrets. I was disappointed. No secrets revealed. The narrator didn't help either. Great voice if he was narrating a gritty cop and robbers story. The only crime perpetrated here was that the book did not live up to its title and I was robbed of my time!