When referring to the Pope or the Dalai Lama, most of the world uses a specific form of address that recognizes the standing each man holds as a religious leader: His Holiness. The Chinese leadership in Beijing prefers to view these men from their side of the political looking glass, and what they see are two grave threats to communist party rule in China. Perspective is everything.

China is the fourth largest nation on the planet with the world's largest population and the world's largest standing army. China possesses sophisticated military hardware and has both nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them anywhere in the world. The leadership of this nation that much of the world believes will define the 21st century, fear a pair of old men who spend much of their days in prayer.

While Pope Benedict XVI and the Dalai Lama are influential world figures, neither commands a military force with which to wage war. The Vatican City-State is roughly the size of Zhongnanhai—the former imperial playground where the China's communist elite reside—and the Dalai Lama's residence in exile at Dharamsala is similarly small.

So what is it about these two old men that China fears: moral authority. Both the Pope and the Dalai Lama represent a belief that each individual is endowed with certain human rights as part of their existence, and each man can speak with the moral authority to challenge the Chinese government.

The Dalai Lama recently visited Washington, DC and Ottawa, where he was received with full ceremonial honors. Beijing was quite vocal in its objections to the Dalai Lama's warm reception in both capitols, decrying the blatant and gross interference in China's internal affairs that undermined China's relations with both offending countries. Beijing went so far as to denounce the Canadian Prime Minister's disgusting conduct in warmly receiving the Dalai Lama.

The exiled Tibetan leader works tirelessly to secure the liberty and autonomy enjoyed by the citizens of Hong Kong for the Tibetan people, but Beijing views the Dalai Lama as a splittist agitating for Tibetan independence. Tibet came under Chinese control in 1951, when the People’s Liberation Army liberated Tibet from the Tibetans.

Pope Benedict has similarly irked Beijing, first by naming Bishop Zen of Hong Kong a cardinal in 2006, then by posting an open letter to all Chinese Catholics this past summer. Both actions resulted in increased persecution of the underground Roman Catholic Church in China.

The Pope and the Dalai Lama are scheduled to meet on December 13th at the Vatican and already the threats and objections are pouring out of Beijing. Where this differs from the empty rhetoric that typically accompanies a visit by the Dalai Lama to any world capitol is that the Holy See does not enjoy diplomatic and trade relations with China, so China is free to act on its threats. In the wake of the December meeting between the two holy men, I expect the head of the Patriotic Church will announce the appointment of several new bishops in China, none of whom will be to Rome’s liking. If that happens, don't expect to see the Holy See exchanging ambassadors with beijing any time soon.

Labels: China, Dalai Lama, pope, Vatican

I was recently asked why, given my fascination with the Sino-Vatican situation, that I didn't write a non-fiction book on the subject. The years of research I put into The Secret Cardinal are worthy of a doctorate, and I am certain a straight biography of Cardinal Kung would make a very compelling read, but the real story has major problem for me: it's not over. I'm a purist and I like my stories with a beginning, middle and end. I like agon and catharsis. And I write fiction because it allows for poetic justice.

While the situation for people of faith in China is better now than during the Cultural Revolution, it is far from ideal. Even a biography of Cardinal Kung, which did have a happy ending after three decades in hell, would end on a sad note because the last Roman Catholic bishop of Shanghai was never able to return to his see and resume his pastoral duties. Kung's victory was personal, because he survived, but his flock continues to suffer. The Dalai Lama's life story may well have the same bittersweet ending on an exiled leader long separated from his people.

Unlike my first four thrillers, The Secret Cardinal confronts a great evil in the world: religious persecution in China. I am not the first author to employ fiction in this manner. Aesop wrote fables and Christ told parables as a means of personal instruction. George Orwell railed against totalitarianism in Animal Farm and 1984 and Upton Sinclair took on the meat packing industry in The Jungle.

Perhaps the most successful novel of this type was abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. When Abraham Lincoln met Stowe, he is reported to have said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." The Secret Cardinal probably won't change the world, but I do hope it entertains and edifies those who read it. It is, after all, a tale of honor, loyalty and faith.

Labels: China, faith, fiction, Kilkenny, religious persecution, Vatican

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is if and when one of my novels will be made into a movie. Like most authors, I shrug and reply, "God only knows."

I can say, with the publication of The Secret Cardinal, that I have earned my first credits as a screenwriting and executive producer for my involvement in the book trailer posted on the home pages of my web sites. Now, I have no plans to give up my day job and move to California to write screenplays and do lunch with industry movers and shakers. I did have a fascinating meeting with filmmaker George Lucas several years ago, but the subject was a non-fiction book and not bringing Nolan Kilkenny to the silver screen.

So, why haven't any of my novels been made into movies? Numbers.

Approximately a thousand new book titles are published every day, totaling over three hundred thousand new books on the market every year. Of these, roughly fifty thousand are novels, which are typically the kinds of books turned into movies.

The annual theatrical output for Hollywood runs under two hundred titles, and of those only a fraction are based on a novel by X. Only a handful of book titles are ever optioned by Hollywood, and even fewer of those are green lighted into production.

Only two of Clive Cussler's many amazing adventures have been made into movies, and at last count, Tom Clancy was up to four. Stephen King and Elmore Leonard have a decent book-to-movie ratio, though the quality of the transition has left much to be desired in many cases. J.K. Rowling will, in another few years, go seven-for-seven, when the last of her Harry Potter novels becomes another blockbuster, but she remains an amazing exception to the rule.

Writers know that getting published is a lot like winning the lottery. The odds on having your novel turned into a movie is akin to being struck by lighting while shooting a hole-in-one—not impossible, but a very rare feat.

Labels: China, george lucas, hollywood, movie, secret cardinal, Vatican

On June 30th, the Vatican posted an open letter from Pope Benedict XVI to all Catholics in China, patriotic and underground alike. The letter resulted from a January meeting between the pope and his best advisors on how best to deal with China. Rumors of the letter's imminent release circulated around every major day on the Church calendar for five months, but the pope took his time and the language of the final document is precise and clear.

The Vatican gave Beijing a copy of the pope’s letter several days before it was publicly posted, to provide the Chinese government time to form an appropriate response. In the West, the letter was widely praised as conciliatory and many had hoped Beijing would receive it in the spirit in which it was sent and open a formal dialog with the Holy See.

Beijing's response was to block domestic Internet access to the Vatican website, and to play Whack-a-mole with any other site that posted the pope's letter. Beijing offered no official reaction to the pope's letter, though a few high-ranking members of the patriotic church approved of the absence of anti-communist rhetoric present in previous Vatican pronouncements. Distribution of the pope's letter in China is a crime and several Catholic priests have reportedly been subjected to brainwashing and other forms of reeducation to show them the error of their ways.

While I don't expect The Secret Cardinal to win a rave review from the book critics at China's People's Daily, I am pretty sure it won't be decried as an evil document and my readers subjected to abuse far beyond that experienced by any Al Qeda detainee. Actually, I doubt very much my novel will ever legally see the light of day in China, and I expect my web sites will be blocked in China as soon as Beijing views the book trailer.

Labels: China, letter, persecution, pope, Vatican

The Dalai Lama recently visited Washington, DC, where he met privately with the president and later received a Congressional Gold Medal for his work in the field of human rights. Beijing threw a tantrum that included strongly worded demands that the U.S. Government correct this grave error and cancel both the ceremony and the president's meeting with the exiled Tibetan leader. There were also reports that Chinese hackers attacked Internet search engines in the U.S., misdirecting requests for Google and Yahoo to the Baidu site instead.

The oft-cited reason for China's ire was our interference in their internal affairs. Near as I can tell, an act of Congress to honor someone is an internal affair of the United States, and China's demands constitute the same type of interference that they are decrying. Of course, China's 1951 invasion of Tibet had little on that nation’s internal affairs.

Pope Benedict and the Dalai Lama have much in common with regard to China. Beijing fears and despises both men because they speak for a persecuted segment of Chinese society and represent a moral authority that could challenge China's totalitarian regime. It is interesting to see a state with the largest standing military, in the midst of a military expansion since the U.S. entered World War II, terrified of two old men in command of nothing more that their personal bodyguards. But even Mao knew that people of faith believe in something greater that the state, and that is where the danger lies.

At the end of May, Pres. Bush held an off the books meeting the Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong in the White House residence. News of this meeting broke several weeks later, and Beijing said nothing to allow the story to die quietly. Zen may well be the most dangerous Roman Catholic in China because, as a cardinal, he is in a position to be elected pope. The combination of the Dalai Lama and a Chinese pope would likely be more than Beijing could handle.

Labels: Cardinal, China, Dalai Lama, gold medal, pope, Vatican

In August, I had the pleasure of sitting in on the recording of the audio book for The Secret Cardinal at Brilliance Audio in Grand Haven, Michigan. A week later, I watched the first copies of my novel glide off the presses at Edwards Brothers in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Quite a thrill.

Since The Secret Cardinal went into final production, several things have happened in the real world regarding China and the Vatican that certainly would have made it into the facts section at the back of by novel.

In July, the government appointed electors for the diocese of Beijing selected the new bishop of Beijing from a slate of Episcopal candidates. The government reportedly campaigned hard on the behalf of Joseph Li Shan, who won the election by a wide margin. Centered in the capitol, the post of bishop for the Diocese of Beijing is politically sensitive, and Li succeeds Bishop Fu Tieshan, a fiery anti-Vatican prelate who also served as the head of patriotic association in charge of the state-run Catholic Church in China.

Li's election came just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI posted his open letter to all Catholics in China on the Vatican's website (there's a link to the pope's letter on tomgrace.net). Beijing quickly blocked access to the Vatican's website and many were arrested in China for posting or distributing copies of the pope's letter. While the naming of bishops is a major sticking point between Beijing and Rome, the Vatican did comment that Li was worthy and qualified.

While most of China's patriotic bishops have reportedly quietly sought and received the pope's blessing for their appointments, none have publicly expressed their loyalty to Rome. Following his election, Li went on a lengthy retreat that prevented him from asking or receiving the pope's blessing for his appointment.

Li was ordained and installed in his new post of September 21st, and for the first time in fifty years, the Vatican reported the installation of a bishop in China. The Vatican press release did not mention if Pope Benedict approved of Li's ordination, and both Beijing and Rome were positioned to avoid antagonizing each other.

What should be noted in context with Bishop Li's ordination is the death of Roman Catholic Bishop Han Dinhxiang of Hebei. Han had endured over three decades of incarceration since 1960, disappearing into police custody for the two years preceding his death. Within hours of his death, Han’s body was cremated and interred, leaving one to wonder what his captors were hiding. With Han's death, the number of aging Roman Catholic bishops in China drops to 35, and the members of this group are either in prison, under house arrest, or in hiding.

On a related note, China's State Administration for Religious Affairs put into effect a law that prevents Tibetan lamas from reincarnating without Beijing permission. As absurd as it sounds that an atheist government that does not believe in the existence of souls would enact legislation regarding life after death, this actually ties in with the issue of Catholic bishops in China.

Tibetan lamas are considered living Buddhas, and most of these lamas reside in Tibet, which is occupied by China. As these lamas die, Beijing has interfered with the process through which the reincarnated lamas are recognized in an attempt to gain greater control over Buddhists in China through pro-Beijing lamas. This interference has resulted in the creation of sanctioned and unsanctioned lamas.

The aim of Beijing's new legislation is the Dalai Lama, who resides in exile in India. The Dalai Lama is 72, and the new law prevents recognition of anyone outside of China as the reincarnated Dalai Lama.

I don't think you have to be an enlightened soul to understand why China has been a fixture on US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report since its inception in 1998.

Labels: catholic, China, patriotic church, pope, religious persecution, secret cardinal, thriller, Vatican