Council
A Novel
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this powerful sequel to Conclave, the acclaimed novel of the papacy, you will enter the shadowy corridors of the Vatican with the pope himself and go behind the scenes of the debates and intrigues that affect the lives of one billion Catholics around the world.
Council is the riveting story of the first American-born pope, who sends shock waves throughout the Catholic Church when he summons a new ecumenical council, or gathering of the world's bishops - the first since the revolutionary Vatican II in the 1960s. His mission: to bring crucial, long-needed changes to the life of the Church he loves.
Council is the passionate story of the men and women who are drawn into the maelstrom of faith and politics, passion and power. The pope who faces the most difficult crisis of his life . . . a beautiful journalist who loves a priest . . . a powerful Irish cardinal who bitterly opposes the pope's call for a council . . . a South American businessman who once served in a death squad . . . an American priest who is torn from his troubled parish to play a role in the pope's dream . . . all are front line soldiers in the battle of good against evil.
Council is the intimate, detailed look at the daily life and the crushing responsibilities of the papacy, as conflict and conspiracies whirl around the controversial figure of Celestine VI, the surprise choice of the cardinals in the aftermath of a terrorist assassination of a beloved pope. Told with authority and sensitivity, insight and knowledge, Council is a story you'll never forget.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tobin's latest novel about Catholic church hierarchy is a well-intentioned but unfocused, cluttered affair in which an American pope initiates a massive effort to take the church into the 21st century with a new ecumenical council. Timothy Mulrennan is the New Jersey archbishop who suddenly ascends to the papacy after a controversial election that takes places shortly after the assassination of Mulrennan's Filipino predecessor. The earnest, compassionate American quickly throws his energy into the massive task of assembling a council (a gathering of all the bishops around the world) for the first time since Vatican II in 1960, reasoning that the lightning pace of life in the electronic age warrants a reconsideration of theological principles. He faces formidable opposition from the conservative wing of the Vatican, but an even more formidable enemy surfaces when doctors detect a spinal tumor during a routine medical exam. Tobin writes with conviction about the issues facing the Catholic church, such as the role of the laity in church affairs, but the endless political wrangling over the formation of the council itself is unlikely to interest any but the most die-hard pope watchers especially since these obscure questions seem dated vis- -vis the current sordid scandals. Moreover, the romantic subplot involving a priest and a journalist is mawkish and hackneyed, and a political conspiracy led by a prominent conservative cardinal is pure melodrama. Tobin has forged a solid career by writing with elegance and grace about contemporary religious questions, but this is a subpar effort.
