Behind Locked Doors

"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. Baumgartner evokes the high drama of this event while simultaneously providing a comprehensive and rigorous history of the papal elections. Since secrecy was not heavily invoked until the twentieth century, there is a vast store of material to work from and Baumgartner uses it to detail the bickering and blatant politicking that goes on behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, we have not yet experienced this event that transfixes the world's gaze on Rome, but no doubt we will at some point. Behind Locked Doors is a companion to have along when it happens and we watch the centuries-old transfer of Vatican power from one man to the next."--Jacket.