The writing and the characters were beautiful, I love how different cardinals were portrayed all with their own flaws and the traits of being more human than holy.

My more than fifty years of diminishing devotion as a Roman Catholic, including my years as a junior seminarian, preparing to study for the priesthood, enabled me to understand, empathise with and enjoy what was going on!

Some kind of spiritual insomnia, a kind of noisy interference, had crept over him during the past year, denying him that communion with the Holy Spirit he had once been able to achieve quite naturally. High” describes churches use of a number of liturgical, ceremonial, and traditional practices, often referred to by both High and Low adherents as “the bells and smells” associated with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

From the embers of the deceased pope comes the cry the world has waited to hear: Habemus papam (We have a Pope)! A pedofilia está na ordem do dia, e dos milhões de euros que dão entrada no Banco do Vaticano, apenas uma ínfima parte é aplicada em obras de caridade, destinando-se a grande fatia do bolo a investimentos em acções e bens imobiliários. But it is the kind of book one must approach with an open mind, any pre conceived notions will spoil it for you. Conclave é um thriller que explora os efeitos do poder no seio da Cúria Romana e, colateralmente, denuncia luxos, riquezas e negócios. This wasn’t all that strange considering that even though it’s probably a mile walk, the woods behind my house backed up to the Catholic Church property.Photograph: AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Perfect storm … clouds over St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. The pope has died and the cardinals are gathering to elect his successor, cardinals from all over the world, some have ambition and some are rivals but each one will cast his vote in the World's more secretive election. Harris was after all a political journalist, and the election of a pope is a supremely political event – albeit with a relatively small electorate – indeed the College of Cardinals has often been referred to as “the most sophisticated electorate in the world”. Using these multi-dimensional individuals, the narrative moves in interesting ways to enrich the story the further it advances, using Lomeli as the central protagonist throughout. Robert Harris is the author of ten bestselling novels: the Cicero Trilogy - Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator - Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, The Ghost, The Fear Index, and An Officer and a Spy, which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

Behind the scenes of each vote, though, there is enough scheming and maneuvering to make your head spin.I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes books that are information and character driven as opposed to action driven.

The only differences between them are the nature of their beliefs and the depth of their spirituality.

As a long standing fan of Robert Harris’s books it pains me to have to say that I found this one rather disappointing. The elevator lurched to an abrupt halt but his stomach seemed to go on rising and he had to grip the metal handrail to steady himself. The candidates themselves (four Papabiles are presented early on) are each hiding secrets whose disclosure would likely cost them the election. maybe a pang of loss, when confronted with someone who has a great being or some far-reaching plan in which to trust in.