The Vicar of Christ
About this ebook
This book is universally considered to be an unusual, fascinating, and well-written observation of the life of a man who was first a war hero and Medal of Honor winner from the Korean War, then Chief Justice of the United States, later a monk reeling from tragedy, and finally elected to be Pope: Pope Francis I, in fact. His exciting life is described by three men who 'knew him well.' The first narrator is a Marine, telling of their time together in Korea. A constitutional scholar and Supreme Court Justice, appalled at the new Chief Justice, narrates the second phase. The third is a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church: fat, kind, but distracted. The Marine cares for him the most, the Supreme Court Justice condescends and despises him, and the Cardinal is much more interested in food than his subject. But Declan Walsh was a man who earned the Medal of Honor while ordering the death of friends, ruled pragmatically and energetically on the Court but lost his way to death and neglect, and became a miraculous healer, assassinated for challenging the powers that rule the secular world.
New ebook edition features proper formatting, active and detailed Table of Contents, and linked notes and URLs in Justice Alito's extensive and informative introduction.
What makes this book extraordinary is that it proves itself by paradox — reconciling and weaving together strong, seemingly incompatible elements into a cohesive, memorable work quite unlike any other in recent fiction. Ambitious in length and scope, the stage is nothing less than the contemporary world, its recent history and prophecy; while the focus, from several points of view, is clearly upon a single man — an American — who rises to become Bishop of Rome.
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About the author
WALTER F. MURPHY taught constitutional law to generations of students at Princeton, where he held the chair of McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence first occupied by Woodrow Wilson. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Murphy served as a Marine in Korea and won a Distinguished Service Cross and a Purple Heart, eventually retiring with the rank of colonel. He graduated from Notre Dame and George Washington University and earned a PhD in political science from the University of Chicago. His novels include The Roman Enigma and Upon This Rock: The Life of St. Peter.
