Nothing speaks more clearly for the powerful spiritual leadership of Rome than the mood of elation which followed Vatican II and today's dissent among Catholics at what seems a return to a header, more dogmatic instruction. However, as this book shows, the challenge of modernisation has in fact been felt by the papacy for more than a century and a half. Following the French Revolution, the concordat with Napoleon, and the growth of national churches, the Pope had to take a stand on worldly matters; where he shirked this, than his very refusal became policy.