The extraordinary election of John Paul II

A church in crisis, a conclave in deadlock - and how the surprise election of a complete outsider played right into Opus Dei's hands

What follows is an excerpt from my recent book OPUS, which recounts the extraordinary events around the conclave of October 1978. That meeting led, of course, to the election of Pope John Paul II. But it also had an extraordinary impact on the direction the Church would take - and the role that Opus Dei would play. Within just a few years, the new pope …