![]() ![]() Vying for the papal crown are an African cardinal whom many want to see as the first black pope, a press-savvy Canadian, an Italian arch-conservative (think Cardinal Scalia), and an Italian liberal who wants to continue the late pope’s campaign to modernize the church. “In the running” is an apt phrase because, as described by Harris, the papal conclave is the ultimate political backroom-albeit a room, the Sistine Chapel, covered with Michelangelo frescoes. He believes it is also his duty to uncover what the pope knew before he died because some of the cardinals in question are in the running to succeed him. ![]() ![]() At the center of the action is Cardinal Lomeli, Dean of the College of Cardinals, whose job it is to manage the conclave that will elect a new pope. In the aftermath of his sudden death, rumors circulate about the pope’s intention to fire certain cardinals. ![]() Harris, creator of grand, symphonic thrillers from Fatherland (1992) to An Officer and a Spy (2014), scores with a chamber piece of a novel set in the Vatican in the days after a fictional pope dies.įictional, yes, but the nameless pontiff has a lot in common with our own Francis: he’s famously humble, shunning the lavish Apostolic Palace for a small apartment, and he is committed to leading a church that engages with the world and its problems. ![]()
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