The Last Pope

Once I opened the book, I could not put it down. The story is fascinating. I learned so much about how the Church operates and the characters were all interesting. I cannot wait to read the other books that David Osborn has written. I hope more people get a chance to read this book!

I found this book better than any other that takes place in the Vatican. It has a really human story that gets hold of you and doesn't let you go. Will the first American candidate for the papacy become pope or not? And will the gentle priest who defies the powers to be. end up excommunicated? What will happen to his lovely, (...) consort? You don't get answers until the very end. If you read this book at bedtime I guarantee you won't get to sleep until you finish it. It's terrific

I found The Last Pope an absolutely fascinating book because it raised the question as to whether Cardinal Ignatius Heriot's extraordinarily vivid dreams, set in one historical period were memories of former lives and the cardinal endlessly reincarnated, or merely symptomatic of guilt? Also was the priest who rebels against the Vatican perhaps actually a second coming and the prostitute who becomes his disciple truly Mary Magdalene? Or just an analogy? These two thoughts represented by the truly interesting characters of Francesca and Heriot lifted the book right up out of the just very good into by far the best novel I've read this year.

This book is about the first American Cardinal Candidate for the Papacy. Most of it takes place during a Papal conclave ofn which the author reveals for the first time all the secrets. I found the book to be compelling. It made me wonder who the next real Pope willbe. Although I am not a Catholic, I found it religiously inspiring. It's a must read.

David Osborn's fascinating book lifts the rug of secrecy that has for centuries concealed, at least from this reader, the unbridled struggle for power and position within the citadel of the Catholic Church. Far from being this ideal, princely state, successor to the church established by Jesus's first pope, Peter, we find instead a hierarchical organization of deadly ambitious administrators, every one manoeuvring to reach that ultimate goal, becoming Pope, God's representative on Earth, the-almost-most-powerful man on the Planet. Mr. Osborn's virtual eye-witness accounts of the super-secret workings of the procedures for electing a pope and the lobbying, as energentic as any in Washington, so essential to that process, reveal a far less devinely inspired election process than this innocent reader would have ever expected. Mr. Osborn has exposed a church administration as venal as any outside the Vatican, which maybe should not be so surprising yet is when one considers the great sacrifices one makes in becoming a priest and the personal commitment necessary to make those sacrifices. Is it the post itself that corrupts? Is getting elected Pope a venal sin? A payback for all those years of sacrifice and duty? Is doing everything in one's career with an eye of climbing the ecclesiastical ladder surrending to the deadly sin of pride? These are just some of the questions Mr. Osborn forces the reader to ponder.Its a great read with strong three-dimensional characters who have the mettle to prevail in the messy environment Mr. Osborn has so realistically created. I learned a great deal and was greatly entertained. Can one ask for more?