''The Shoes of the Fisherman'' is a novel by the Australian writer

Morris West Morris Langlo West (26 April 19169 October 1999) was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1959), ''The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (1963) and ''The Clowns of God'' (1981). His books were publ ...

first published in 1963. The novel concerns the election of a Ukrainian pope, and is a dissection of Vatican politics.William H. Honan
"Morris West, Popular Novelist Focusing on Faith, Dies at 83"
''The New York Times'', 12 October 1999 The protagonist, Kiril Pavlovich Lakota, appointed a cardinal ''in pectore'' by the previous pope, was inspired by the lives of two Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukrainian Catholic bishops: Cardinal

Josyf Slipyj Josyf Slipyi ( uk, Йосиф Сліпий, born as uk, Йосиф Коберницький-Дичковський, translit=Yosyf Kobernyts'kyy-Dychkovs'kyy; 17 February 1892 – 7 September 1984) was a Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek ...

and Bishop Hryhorij Lakota. Slipyj was released by

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

's administration from a Siberian

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

in 1963, the year of the novel's publication, after political pressure from

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

and United States

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. Slipyj arrived in Rome in time to participate in the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. Lakota died in 1950 in a Soviet Gulag. A sub-plot deals with Kiril's relationship with a controversial theologian and scientist, Father Telemond. Many of the characteristics of Father Telemond were based on the controversial French

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ( (); 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist, theologian, philosopher and teacher. He was Darwinian in outlook and the author of several influential theological and philos ...

. The book was coincidently published on 3 June 1963, the day Pope John XXIII died.Tony Stephens, "Last Rites", Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, 3 June 2000 The book reached No. 1 on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller List for adult fiction on 30 June 1963, and became the No. 1 best-selling novel in the United States for that year, according to ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

''. In the story, Kiril Lakota, the protagonist and archbishop of Lviv was created cardinal with the title of St. Athanasius. In 1965,

, Archbishop (later Major-Archbishop) of Lviv was proclaimed a cardinal with the title of

Sant'Atanasio The Church of Saint Athanasius ( it, Sant’Atanasio, la, S. Athanasii), also known as Sant'Atanasio dei Greci (, ''Ekklisia Agiou Athanasiou ton Ellinon''), is a Greek Catholic titular church located on Via del Babuino 149, near the Spanish step ...

(St. Athanasius) by Pope Paul VI. A movie version directed by Michael Anderson was released in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shoes Of The Fisherman, The (novel) 1963 Australian novels Australian novels adapted into films Novels set during the Cold War Novels set in Rome Catholic novels William Morrow and Company books Works by Morris West