The Shoes of the Fisherman
by Morris Westliterary work· published 1963
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The Shoes of the Fisherman is a novel by Australian writer Morris West first published in 1963. The novel concerns the election of a Ukrainian pope and is a dissection of Vatican politics. The protagonist, Kiril Pavlovich Lakota, appointed a cardinal in pectore by the previous pope, was inspired by the lives of two Ukrainian Catholic bishops: Cardinal Josyf Slipyj and Bishop Hryhorij Lakota. Slipyj was released by Nikita Khrushchev's administration from a Siberian Gulag in 1963, the year of the novel's publication, after political pressure from Pope John XXIII and United States President John F. Kennedy. Slipyj arrived in Rome in time to participate in the Second Vatican Council. Lakota died in 1950 in a Soviet Gulag.
Adaptations (1)
The Shoes of the Fisherman was adapted into a 1968 film.
The Shoes of the Fisherman1968 · film · 162 min · dir. Michael Anderson · IMDb ↗IMDb7.043%Ukrainian bishop Kiril Lakota, a political prisoner in a Soviet gulag for twenty years, is unexpectedly released and sent to the Vatican, where, upon the sudden death of the Pope, leader of the Catholic Church, he must face a challenging destiny that will put the future of the entire world in his hands.
