A CONGREGATION OF OVER A BILLION
Living in palatial surroundings, in his own sovereign state, guarded by a fiercely loyal private army, it is difficult to imagine how the head of a church with over one billion members could be murdered. This however, is the premise of the plotline in ANGELS and DEMONS, in which Dan Brown has the previous pope killed off by a man it transpires is his son. In the novel, this introduces two themes: that of a pope being assassinated and that of a supposedly celibate pontiff having a child who he has patronized and raised to an office within the Vatican. Could there be any precedent for either of these outrageous suggestions - has Mr Brown been inspired by real events?
