Front cover image for Behind locked doors : a history of the Papal elections

Behind locked doors : a history of the Papal elections

"Since the early seventeenth century, whenever a pope dies, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church have convened in Rome to elect a successor and all eyes focus on The Eternal City. The Papal Conclave is an event like no other. Highly secretive and conducted behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, it happens about eight times every century. The fascination this event has for the world was evoked in the film The Shoes of the Fisherman when Anthony Quinn was elected as the first non-Italian pope in many centuries. That drama was played out for real when the current Pontiff, Pope John Paul II, was elected to succeed Pope John Paul I after a reign of only a few weeks that was cut short by a shocking death from heart disease. In his newest book, Frederic J

Print Book, English, 2003
1st ed
Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2003