Thomas Lannan, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., is threatened by a scandal dating from his youth just as he is named Cardinal. The Pope dies before Lannan and other nominees are inducted into the College and they are excluded from the conclave. This leads to widespread criticism and the new pope, having enlarged the College of Cardinals considerably, is killed in a plane crash. The next conclave elects the controversial Pope Timothy from Tanzania. Schism threatens as the decadent West resists its marginalization because of the massive demographic shift to the east and south.

In Avignon, an anti-pope is elected. Thomas Lannan, against the grain of his brother bishops, remains loyal to Timothy and rallies a remnant of the American church. His moral triumph is threatened when he is accused of having fathered a child when he was a seminarian. He becomes the subject of a sensational trial. This issue will be settled by DNA evidence. The suspense builds. Did he or didn't he?