The vicar of Christ - Walter F. Murphy

'Hic jacet Franciscus I, Vicarius Christi.'

Cut into a brass plague outside St. Peter's in Rome, this simple inscription marks the final resting place of an extraordinary man. Declan Walsh is the first American Pope; this astonishing novel charts the growth of his intricate, flawed, yet essentially noble character.

Twice a war hero, Walsh's career is charted by three close acquaintances. First Sergeant Guicciardini gives us an astute study of leadership, and of the soldier whose achievements brough him America's highest award of courage.

Through the eyes of an associate justice - a man whose inability to perceive his subject potential greatness is more illuminating than any hero worship - we see Walsh as a professor of law, ambitious politician, and finally Chief Justice of the United States. Walsh is not a man without flaws, and these are intensified by feelings deeply rooted in the war and in his tragically ended marriage. At last, a shattered man, he quits his legal career for the cathartic peace of a monastery.

Cardinal Galeotti of the Papal diplomatic service narrates the final scenes. Gourmet and elegant politician, he takes us through the elaborate inner workings of the Vatican and the mechanics of Papal elections. 

Declan Walsh is elected Pope, taking the name Francesco I. Through Galeotti's worldly yet sympathetic eyes we watch Francesco's attempt to reform not only the last church to which he is heir, but also mankind. A spiritual reformer, his radicalism wreaks sudden change within the Curia. Upsetting the professional diplomats, he calls for a moral revival and the abandonment of materialism - for a reassessment of values throughout the world. Within a year of his election, the Pope is assassinated. The Church he sought to alter moves on in majesty and state, cutting the lines of his epitaph into the brass of his monument. 

Without sentimentality or doctrinal emphasis, the author of this extraordinary work of fiction states quite simply that if we are to save ourselves, love and justice must be held out to all men.