THE BISHOP

by Bruce Marshall ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 19, 1970

This, like Satan and Cardinal Campbell, is a spoof of sanctum sanctorum which you will either find funny, not funny, or questionable. ""This is going to set the cat among the pigeons, all right"" says the Vicar General as ""just another encyclical"" appears in the mail--the Pope's Humanae Vitae on birth control. And the Bishop, ""Miss Vatican,"" finds it too too true as laity and ecclesiasticals alike gnash their teeth in opposition to the papal bull. Vocations begin to wither as the Vicar General and Sister Juliana amorously defy ""dogmatism not dogma"" and shock the Prioress into an early death. Frail Father Spyers must tell a parishioner to practice abstinence, and when she is given a therapeutic abortion he finds she has gone insane with guilt, while her Protestant husband attacks the priest making him ""Humanae Vitae's first martyr."" Father Spyers then preaches against the encyclical, while his opposite number in the Episcopal Church sermonizes on the ""Ethics of Wife-Swapping."" The Archbishop is busy reading ""The Cardinal"" so the Bishop runs to Rome and the Pope vaguely offers to take the wayward Spyers under wing. Mr. Marshall has his following but much of the humor here remains in cathedra.

Pub Date: June 19, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1970

Categories: FICTION