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Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History, from Glass Entertainment Group and Rearrange TV, is a six-part CNN Original Series that goes inside the Vatican to reveal the true power held by popes throughout the ages. The docuseries explores how 12 apostles became 1.2 billion Catholics today, linking recent news events surrounding the Vatican with their unexpected origins. The premiere episode, "The Rise of the Pope," examines the origins of the papacy and how Catholicism, against all odds, spread throughout Europe. Jon Hirsch, Nancy Glass, Randy Counsman, Amy Entelis and Lizzie Fox serve as executive producers.
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Episode 1
Sun, Mar 11, 201841 mins
The modern pope is the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, the head of an independent nation, who wields international influence on a wide range of both religious and secular issues. But to understand how one man and one institution rises to such heights, we must go back 2,000 years to the remarkable origins of the Catholic Church. Beginning with Peter's perilous grassroots movement in the wake of Christ's crucifixion, we'll follow Christianity's dramatic journey through the time of the Crusades, undertaken to recover the Holy Land from Islamic rule. Through blood, battle, and faithful perseverance, we will watch as the pope evolves from the spiritual leader of an outlawed cult to one of the most powerful men on earth.



