"Blessed be, Your Most Holy. How long have we awaited your return to reclaim your throne? After all these centuries, I should be privileged in the eyes of God to behold this moment. Please, Your Holiness, remove your hood and reveal your likeness so that I . . . can announce to the world that Saint Peter has returned."

It was 1734, and it had been nearly nine centuries since Pope Joan issued her secret papal decree that required a constant vigil for the prophesized return of St. Peter. Now that prophecy was about to reveal itself.

But why did St. Peter choose this time and this place to fulfill a centuries old prophecy? Would he restore the Roman Catholic Church to its former glory, having suffered the ravages of the Reformation? Was his return the prelude to the Second Coming, as some had thought? Or was his return for more personal reasons?