Chapter 19 Summary

Seeing himself in the reflection of the limousine, Cardinal Bem has a revelation that he must stand tall in his position and draw the danger toward him. He insists on not returning to Gneisk hidden in a Security Police car, but rather on being taken back to his residences in the limousine with full escort. Colonel Vrona objects but allows it when the cardinal says he will make a televised statement that it was not the government that detained him.

Chapter 19 Analysis

This is a major turning point in the cardinal's journey. He is no longer on the defensive or on the run. He realizes that everything is up to him, and the only way he can do anything is by publicly asserting his power and confronting those who have conspired against him. There is some irony here in the fact that the...