The People's Cardinal

"The People's Cardinal" is a suspenseful thriller that voyages into the future of the Catholic Church, examining the dangers the church faces if it fails to meet the needs of the faithful in a rapidly changing modern world-and if it allows the blind ambition of its leaders to prevail.

It is 2045, the pope has died, the Catholic Church is in crisis, and church leaders are deeply divided about the direction they should take to stem the church's losses. Many, seeing the problem as a loss of confidence, desire to reform the church to become more in touch with its flock. But the traditionalists see things otherwise.

Cardinal Antonio Ruggieri is among those traditionalists who believe the church's problems stem from a lack of church discipline. A man with legendary bulldog tenacity, he believes he's the only one with the backbone to do what needs to be done.

On the eve of the Conclave, little does the College of Cardinals realize they are about to set in motion one of the most significant innovations in several centuries-the appointment of a lay cardinal-sowing the seeds for a shocking power grab that will shake the church at its very foundations.