What if the Pope WEREN'T Catholic? What if she never HAD been? It's 1997, in a universe much like ours. But here the Pope is dead, and the conclave to elect the new head of the Catholic Church has chosen someone who is not a Cardinal-or even a Catholic-or even a man. Act of God? Fraud on the College of Cardinals? What changes would she bring to the Church? And what about the people who will never accept a woman Pope. how do you protect her from the those who have sworn to kill her? Imagine you're the Pope-do you let priests marry? Balance family planning, divorce, sexuality, Church power.with the historic teachings of the church? This is Yarbro's breakthrough book! Speculative fiction; a modern-day political adventure; and a religious thriller set backstage at the Vatican in an era of turmoil in the Church-a mirror of our own world.