This is a novel about a Papal election, seen through the eyes of Cardinal Lomeli, the Dean of the College of Cardinals and the man in charge of the event. But before the doors are closed, he learns of the existence a last minute secret Cardinal appointed in pectore (by the heart) by the Pope. He is also advised that one of the contenders may have been dismissed by the Pope hours before the Pope's death. Going into the Sistine Chapel, the Italians, a plurality, hope to recapture the Papacy after a forty-year exile. However, they are split between traditionalists, who wistfully look back on the loss of the Latin mass, and modernists trying to propel the faith forward in a changing world. After a few votes, the Nigerian Cardinal rises and then falls after news surfaces of an indiscretion thirty-years ago. The Canadian who next has the pole position is side-lined by Lomeli himself, who has found written concerns of the late Pontiff regarding the Quebecois. In the midst of the voting, the Vatican is attacked by a car bomb and a suicide bomber. As the last minute secret Cardinal is the Bishop of Baghdad, he offers up some ideas on facing Islamist terrorism. When the Cardinal from Venice offers up some spirited right-wing responses, the conclave turns to Benitez from Baghdad and the words 'Habemus Papum' ring out. There is then what the Times reviewer called a "dramatic twist" that for me took a lot of wind out of the sails of this book. Just a bit too unimaginable/cute/bold/unbelievable.
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