About the Author
Tom Grace was born, raised, and still lives in Michigan. He studied architecture at the University of Michigan, where he developed his strict eye for detail. In just over twenty years of practice, Tom has worked on projects ranging from modest home renovations to major urban designs for Chicago and London. His superior knowledge of technology has found its way into his writing and has earned him tremendous acclaim as a result.
Tom credits his second career as a writer in equal parts to a voracious appetite for books, an over-active imagination, and a compulsive desire to set challenging long-term goals for himself.
Tom Grace lives with his wife, five children and a yellow Labrador. His interests are architecture and current affairs; he also enjoys scuba diving, martial arts and running marathons. To find out more about Tom go to www.tomgrace.net.
Author’s Note
This novel is a product of the author’s imagination; however, the uneasy relations between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China upon which the story is based are real and remain unresolved as of this writing.
Fact: As a political entity, China has existed in some form for millennia. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) came to power under Mao Zedong in 1949. China is the fourth-largest nation in the world and home to the world’s largest population of 1.3 billion people.
Fact: The significance of the various Popes’ secular power has waxed and waned over the past seventeen centuries, but the line of succession for those who served as Bishop of Rome has remained unbroken since the arrival of the Apostle Peter in 42 A.D. Ruling as an absolute monarch, the Pope is the Sovereign of the State of Vatican City — a landlocked city-state with less than one-eighth the area of New York’s Central Park and a population of slightly more than nine hundred persons. Of far greater importance is the Pope’s role as the spiritual, doctrinal, juridical, and legislative leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics.
Fact: The PRC is officially an atheist nation, and religious belief is considered antisocialist. In the years immediately following the Communist takeover and later, during the Cultural Revolution, the government tried to eradicate religion in China. It failed in both instances. Despite periods of intense persecution, religious faith in China has persevered and, in some instances, flourished.
Fact: Unable to eradicate religion, the PRC government has chosen instead to control the content of the message heard by Chinese faithful. Chinese Christians may only use Bibles printed by the government; foreign versions are illegal. The government also places onerous restrictions on contact between Chinese religious organizations and their foreign counterparts to guard against foreign infiltration under the guise of religion. Ironically, covert agents of China’s Ministry of State Security have been caught in the West posing as priests to cover their espionage activities.
Fact: The political reliability of religious figures in China is more important to the government than their spiritual training. During a visit to Beijing in 2005, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended a Palm Sunday service in an officially sanctioned church. The pastor’s sermon emphasized how Christ came to Earth not to overthrow a government but the evil in men’s hearts.
Fact: The current constitution of the People’s Republic of China guarantees its citizens the right to religious belief. This right extends only to those faiths recognized by the government: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism. The practice of all other religious faiths in China is illegal. Religious instruction is also not permitted to persons under the age of eighteen.
Fact: Although citizens of China have the right to be Catholics, they cannot be Roman Catholics unless they reside in Hong Kong, which has special rules. Taking a cue from England’s Henry VIII, the PRC government took control of the Catholic Church in China and usurped the authority of the Pope with the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA). Through the CCPA, the government controls the training of priests and the naming of Bishops in China. The Chinese Patriotic Association controls all other recognized religions.
Fact: The freedom to have religious belief in China is not complemented by the right of free association. All churches sanctioned in China must be registered with the government, and membership in these churches is strictly controlled. As a result, religious activities of many faiths are performed illegally in houses or underground churches.
Fact: The government of China deems the practice of religion an internal matter, and foreign interference, either by missionaries or Popes, is not permitted.
Fact: Ties between China and the Holy See dissolved in 1951 following the expulsion of the last Roman Catholic nuncio from Beijing. Presently, the Holy See is one of only a handful of nations to share full diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which the PRC views as interference in the internal affairs of China.
Fact: A majority of the Bishops of the CCPA have reportedly sought and received recognition from the Vatican with no negative consequence from the Chinese government. Until recently, the CCPA elevated new Bishops only after receiving an indication from the Vatican that the candidate was acceptable. This compromise over the naming of Bishops broke down in 2006, and its status remains in doubt.
Fact: Of the estimated forty Bishops of the underground Roman Catholics in China, most are in prison or under house arrest with the remainder in hiding. Most of these Bishops are very old, and they are dying at a rapid rate. The Holy See has not made any new episcopal appointments to the underground Roman Catholic Church in the past decade and many dioceses, including Shanghai, are vacant.
Fact: Roman Catholic Bishops are required to travel to Rome every five years to report on the condition of their diocese. The Chinese government prohibits this activity, and Roman Catholic Bishops and priests are often charged with espionage.
Fact: The Vatican does not possess an intelligence service comparable to the CIA or the Israeli Mossad, or even to one as modest as the one described in this novel. The Holy See receives information primarily through reports filed by its diplomatic corps and from published sources. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Vatican did receive intelligence briefings from the CIA relating to the Solidarity movement in Poland. Anecdotally, the Vatican is considered by many to be the nation most spied upon, yet least capable of spying.
Fact: Diplomatic discussions between China and the Vatican remain stalled over three major issues: recognition of Taiwan, the naming of Bishops, and, most importantly, recognition of the authority of the Pope over the Roman Catholic Church. China demands that the Vatican sever ties with Taiwan as a precondition to further discussions. The Vatican is unlikely to surrender such a valuable bargaining chip for nothing. China further demands that the Vatican refrain from interfering with internal matters, such as the naming of Bishops. Church dogma states that the Pope has final authority in the naming of Bishops.