Keys of This Blood: Pope John II, Gorbachev, and Struggle for New World Order

In Martin's apocalyptic scenario, Pope John Paul II is a geopolitican whose aim is a new world order, the Grand Design of God on earth, a global government rooted in a recognition of universal interdependence. The other chief players in the ``millennium end-game'' are ``hardcore Leninist'' Gorbachev, bent on world domination, and the West's rulers, said to be eager to maintain the status quo as they condone ``sinful structures'' such as Third World exploitation. Martin ( The Jesuits ) contends that the Pope has allowed the Church to split into politicized factions and willfully ignores ``rampant decadence and unfaith'' among churchmen. He spins a dramatic tale in this long, unpersuasive saga, which purports to be a behind-the-scenes probe of the Vatican's role in the collapse of the Iron Curtain. Author tour. (Sept.)