Papal monopoly

Article from The Tablet October 11, 2008

AT THE ROLL of a dice a cardinal's chances of becoming Pope can be boosted or destroyed. That's the scenario in the impeccably re searched board game Vatican, in which players take the role of cardinals vying for the throne of St Peter.

During the course of their "careers", players "Take a Stand" on weighty theological and moral issues, including contraception, clerical celibacy or the campaign to have the Virgin Mary proclaimed co-redeemer. The race begins as soon as the previous papacy ends, sometimes in bizarre circum-stances. "The Pope dies when the popemobile rolls over after hitting a truck carrying bananas. Your earlier warnings that the popemobile was unstable are now seen as evidence of your sound judgement and you gain additional support," reads one card.

Players must seek to climb the ladder to spiritual perfection while simultaneously avoiding the "Cesspool of Sin", by not, for example, committing the "Sin of Gluttony: at a papal banquet, you have three helpings of cannelloni". Thankfully these sins can always be expiated with a trip to the confessional.

But when it comes to the conclave itself, other cardinals will be waiting for you to slip up: "Your tendency to fall asleep during meetings becomes a cause for comment", one card reads, while another simply says: "Your poor command of Latin is noted and commented on by a number of cardinals - minus 10 votes". To order Vatican, visit dupagepress.com

The Tablet: A Brief History

The Tablet, a remarkable and distinguished Catholic weekly magazine headquartered in London was founded in 1840 by Frederick Lucas, a Quaker convert to Roman Catholicism. From the very beginning and under a series of distinguished editors, The Tablet has been an independent voice at once strongly supportive of the Church and its hierarchy and critical of some of its positions. Under its third editor, Father Herbert Vaughan the magazine came out strongly in favor of The Syllabus of Errors (1864) and the doctrine of papal infallibility which was approved by the First Vatican Council in spite of the determined opposition of some leading English Catholics (Lord Acton). Under the eighth editor, Douglas Woodruff, the magazine championed greater openness in the Church. Woodruff also welcomed Vatican II even though he felt that the Council had destroyed much of the Church that he loved so much.

It was Woodruff, with his brilliant university career, background in foreign affairs and position on The Times who really built the reputation of The Tablet as one of the leading British magazines. He introduced an extensive commentary on foreign affairs as a weekly feature and attracted some of Britain’s leading intellectuals including Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh and Hilaire Belloc to write articles and columns.

Today’s Tablet is in flourishing condition with a circulation of 22,000 with a distinguished readership drawn from both Catholics and non-Catholics. The magazine is particularly noteworthy because of its excellent reviews, the Church and World news survey, Special Reports and other unique sections.

The designer and publishers of The Vatican Board Game are particularly pleased to appear in the pages of this great Catholic publication with its traditions going right back to the early years of Britain’s 19th century Catholic revival. Like The Tablet, the Vatican Board Game has, in the words of the magazine’s tenth editor John Wilkins, “a distinctive stance” and seeks to “inform and interpret” without being tied to any particular party within the Church.