In the Courts of Three Popes

“Mary Ann Glendon’s book joyfully, and with humility, brings us inside her deft, grace-filled, and brilliant public diplomacy career. Few lay Catholics have done more to use the tools of public diplomacy to improve our nation and God’s kingdom. This book is a beautiful primer for all entering the arena with the goal of faithfully serving, as Glendon has done for decades.”—Mike Pompeo, former U.S. secretary of state

“Very often we think of diplomacy and the Vatican as secretive and mysterious. Not anymore! Ambassador Glendon explains a lot in this illuminative and enjoyable book. She makes us all ‘insiders.’”—Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York

“A beautifully written account of one woman’s experience that helps us understand Rome’s strange machinery of governance . . . But this book is more than a study of the West’s last absolute monarchy. Glendon casts fresh light on the many joys and frustrations of the Catholic experience since the Second Vatican Council.”—R. R. Reno, editor of First Things

“In the Courts of Three Popes will inspire, encourage, and motivate readers to follow Glendon’s example of dedicated service to faith and country.”—Callista L. Gingrich, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See

“The kind of memoir one simply can’t put down: a candid, detailed, absorbing, and finally reassuring portrait of leadership at the highest Church levels that could only be told by a veteran Vatican observer and adviser . . . It’s worth every moment spent reading and sharing it.”—Francis X. Maier, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church

“This book is a must read and offers an indispensable moral compass for the faithful and the skeptic alike.”—Ruth Okediji, Jeremiah Smith Professor of Law, Harvard University

“In this engaging and beautifully written memoir, Mary Ann Glendon displays the wisdom, humaneness, and grace that have characterized every aspect of her exemplary life. an inspiration for people of all faiths who seek to uphold and serve what is highest in a demoralized world.”— Leon R. Kass, Dean of the Faculty, Shalem College, Jerusalem

“In this masterful volume, Glendon recounts, with characteristic honesty and humility, her twenty-four years of service to the Catholic Church. Her storytelling style makes this book impossible to put down.”—Bill Donohue, President, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

“How did one woman—an American at that—three times rise to the highest levels of responsibility in the Vatican—a bastion of male religious princes? Mary Ann Glendon’s story of how this happened is both a fascinating and factual tale animated with her experiences in the academy, and the relevance of her own faith to her storied career. It is a must read for Vaticanistas. It is an enjoyable, educative read for everyone else—Catholic and Non-Catholic alike.”—Jim Nicholson, former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and author of The United States and the Holy See: The Long Road