2020 Vision: The Plot to Change the Catholic Church

By Robert J. Betterton

2020 Vision is part of a relatively new genre called "reality fiction". It is a mixture of fact and fiction that uses the names of real persons, living and dead to tell an interesting story and make a point.The challenge is to find a way to do it, which is fair to the real persons in the story beyond getting their names, descriptions and views correct. As the author, I must respect their offices, their reputations and their probable choices, while at the same time retaining my right to exercise my imagination.These are the rules:1. The story must occur in the future and I cannot attribute anything to a character in the past, which they have not done. 2. In this book, Pope Francis II is obviously fictional. However, the Cardinal who is selected to become Francis II is real. He is a New Zealander named John Atcherley Dew who in real life has publicly described himself as "a fairly ordinary Kiwi kind of a bloke". I have tried to keep him that way, although without attempting the accent.3. I must keep all the characters borrowed from real-life "in character". Cardinal Law must think like Cardinal Law and Cardinal Burke like Cardinal Burke - not only in the way they speak, but, as the plot unfolds, in the substance of what they do and if the Pope seems to act out of character, I try to create a scenario that makes the real/fictional pope's actions reasonable.4. Finally, I cannot give any real character special talents, which they don't possess. Cardinal Parolin cannot run a four-minute mile although on one occasion that could have come in very handy. They also can't do things they personally wouldn't, like Cardinal Mller having a mistress.There are also several fictional characters and they also have real names although most of you won't realize it. I tried making up names as I went along, but I kept forgetting who was who. So, I substituted names of friends just because there was some vague reminder in the character, without any necessary connection to appearance or age or capabilities. I didn't forget another name. So, if you and I are mutual friends of a person in the story with the same name, smile and when you see them congratulate them on their fame. An underlying element of the story is based on a long-time complaint of mine that the major problems in the Catholic Church are based on what many years ago, American Cardinal Avery Dulles described as the "Institutional Church" and ironically, they are the easiest to solve. Ordination of women and Celibacy are two examples.Most Catholics believe that the Supreme Authority in the Catholic Church is the Pope. Too often Popes have deferred to the consensus of the Curia, who have routinely ignored the position of the Laity. In this book, Pope Francis II does not. He does what he has to do.Obviously, not everyone agrees with this new course of action. One such group of Rome based prelates, some retired and others not, is led by Cardinal Bernard Law and includes Cardinal Raymond Burke and other familiar faces. They call themselves The Benedict Brethren.Another larger opposition group, mostly living outside Rome and therefore less cohesive is led by Cardinal Dominique Mamberti. They are called The Francis Fellows.The Pope has reason to believe that he and his allies may be in danger and seeks political asylum for them in the Vatican Embassy in Washington, DC. Once there, Pope Francis II makes an announcement that has global impact on the Institutional Church.This begins a series of administrative changes in the way the Institutional Church does business, which are well received outside of Rome.There is a meeting of the Curia Meeting in a very unusual location in the United States, where the attendees learn a new style of problem solving.I wrote this story to try to convince those hundreds of millions of Catholics like me who want to believe that Our Church can be saved if it stops being stubborn and becomes more practical.I hope you enjoy it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1542729084
• ISBN13: 9781542729086
• Release Date: February 2017
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 338 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"