page_title: Lord of the World
section_title: Book II: The Encounter
hierarchical_section_title: Lord of the World / Synopsis / Book II: The Encounter
caption_attribution_description: English: "This painting shows the great fire of London as seen from a boat in vicinity of Tower Wharf. The painting depicts Old London Bridge, various houses, a drawbridge and wooden parapet, the churches of St Dunstan-in-the-West and St Bride's, All Hallow's the Great, Old St Paul's, St Magnus the Martyr, St Lawrence Pountney, St Mary-le-Bow, St Dunstan-in-the East and Tower of London. The painting is in the [style] of the Dutch School and is not dated or signed."
context_page_description: Lord of the World is a 1907 dystopian science fiction novel by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson that centres upon the reign of the Antichrist and the end of the world. It has been called prophetic by Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.
context_section_description: As Oliver Brand reads Mabel an account of Felsenburgh's arrival in England in the Marxist newspaper New People, it is revealed that the Senator, who speaks all languages with equal fluency, has been hailed as the Mahdi throughout the Islamic World. It boasts that his background has nothing "that convicts him of sin", in contrast to the corrupt practices that have "made the sister continent what she is today".
  It adds, however, "Of his actual words we have nothing to say. So far as we are aware, no reporter made notes at the moment; but the speech, delivered in Esperanto, was a very simple one; and very short. It consisted of a brief announcement of the great fact of Universal Brotherhood, a congratulation to all who were yet as live to witness this consummation of history; and at the end, an ascription of praise to the Spirit of the World whose incarnation was now accomplished."
  The article proceeds to mock the supernatural as dead. It announces that a new and enlightened age has come and that mankind is finally ready for world peace.
  Meanwhile, as her son is away with Felsenburgh, Mrs. Brand takes a sudden turn for the worse. Ignoring Mabel's sermons about how Christianity has divided the human race and caused nothing but terrible violence, Mrs. Brand pleads for Father Franklin to be summoned. When Oliver returns home that day, a weeping Mabel informs him that his mother died an hour before. Clutching her rosary, Mrs. Brand had continued to scream for a priest as long as she was able to speak. Mabel explains, however, that she had had her mother-in-law involuntarily euthanised, knowing that her husband would desire it. Although moved to tears by his mother's passing, Oliver tells Mabel that she did the right thing.
  Meanwhile, Father Franklin, who has been summoned to Rome by Pope John XXIV, arrives in Paris to board a volor connection to Italy. As he waits at the main volor station in the former Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Montmartre, Father Franklin ponders how the England that he is leaving behind is beginning to resemble an earthly Hell. Upon his arrival in Rome, Father Franklin is greeted by the Cardinal Protector of England and informed that the Pope will receive him at eleven o'clock.
  Upon being shown into the presence of His Holiness, Father Franklin explains his ideas for the Church's survival under the rule of Julian Felsenburgh. The answer must be increasing standardization and centralization. After recounting the previous steps taken towards centralization, such as the forced merging of all religious orders, the abolition of the Eastern Catholic Churches, and the forced residence of all members of the College of Cardinals in Rome, Father Franklin recommends that violence must never be used – the Mass and the rosary must be the primary weapon against the coming persecution. In conclusion, Father Franklin recommends the forming of a new religious order, with no habit or badge, "freer than the Jesuits, poorer than the Franciscans, more mortified than the Carthusians: men and women alike – the three vows for their Church; each Bishop responsible for their sustenance; a lieutenant in each country.... And Christ Crucified for their patron."
  After the audience, Father Franklin is assigned as an assistant to the ailing Cardinal Protector of England. His duties are to offer daily Mass in the Cardinal's Oratory and to read and summarize all reports from England. During his free hours, Father Franklin takes long walks through the city. He ponders how the Eternal City, which the Pope has divided into four national quarters, now represents a microcosm of the world.
  Towards the end of August, as Father Franklin walks toward the celebration of the Pope's Name Day – significantly, the Pope is named John, so the feast in question is the rather unusual choice of the Decapitation, not the more popular Nativity, of St. John the Baptist -, he passes the yoked carriages of the deposed Crowned Heads of Europe. As he recognizes the British Royal Family, the German House of Hohenzollern, the House of Romanov, the Spanish and Fren
caption: An anonymous painting of the 1666 Great Fire of London graces the cover of the 2015 edition of Lord of the World.
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