Carlo Ventresca

Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca is a fictional character in the 2000 novel Angels and Demons. Carlo Ventresca is the camerlengo and faithful servant to the Roman Catholic Church during the papal conclave in the Vatican City.

Background

Early life

He was raised by his mother Maria, whom he used to call "Maria Benedetta" (the blessed Mary). To the questions about his father, she would always reply that he had died before Carlo was born and that now God was his father. She raised him a strict Catholic by bringing him to Mass every day.

During a vacation on Sicily, the church they visited came under attack of terrorists and Carlo was the sole survivor. Later he would say that God had saved him by leading him into a safe corner.

A bishop from Palermo then took him in and Carlo lived and learned under monks. But at the age of 16 he was conscripted to the Italian army. There he refused to fire a weapon, so they taught him to fly a helicopter and to parachute. After serving two years, he entered seminary. When the bishop was elected Pope, he named Carlo his Camerlengo.

Janus

Before the initial events occurred within the novel, Carlo had been sent, by the Vatican, to CERN (European Center for Nuclear Research) to meet with scientist Leonardo Vetra. This was to investigate claims that a discovery of profound religious significance had occurred. Here, he was shown the procedure to create antimatter. Carlo was ethically disturbed by this discovery, and reported his findings to the Pope, which was met with a positive response. The Pope claimed that he owed a great debt to science, and he agreed with Leonardo Vetra that the discovery held profound religious significance. Carlo was saddened to hear this from the pope, so the pope explained that he had fathered a child, so he owed a deep debt to science. Shocked and disappointed about this betrayal to God and the church, Carlo abandoned the pope before the situation was explained. Carlo found himself on St. Peter's tomb where he believed he received instructions from God.

Carlo carried out this believed instruction by poisoning the pope with lethal dose of Heparin (which the pope required for his illness). Due to his role as the Camerlengo, he took the authority of the Holy See while a new pope was elected (although without most of the popes prerogatives). During this time period, he hired an assassin to kill the four cardinals held in the highest regard by the college, or papabilies, thus ensuring a confusion in the Conclave as to who should be elected to the papacy.

He covered up many of these actions by assuming an alias as the leader of the Illuminati, known as "Janus".

Camerlengo

The novel then begins with the antimatter having been stolen from CERN and hidden in the Vatican, and used as a terrorist threat against the church. This is known to have been engineered by the Illuminati, which Carlo is claiming to be the leader of. The Illuminati claims that they wish to destroy the Vatican as vengeance for the murder and repression of science before the Age of Enlightenment.

During the novel, with one hour before the antimatter is due to destroy the Vatican, Maximilian Kohler claims to have information regarding the location of the antimatter, and reports to the Vatican to help. It then turns out that Kohler knew about the plans of the Camerlengo, and intended to unmask him. When the he was confronted, he branded himself with the Illuminati diamond, claimed that Kohler was an Illuminatus and had him shot. During this time, Kohler has recorded the meeting on hidden camera.

Being carried outside to St Peter's Square due to his injuries, he suddenly awoke and jumped up, presenting the brand to the masses. Then he pretended to receive a heavenly message revealing the position of the antimatter, with only 30 minutes until its destruction. He and Langdon used a helicopter to try to get the antimatter away. Carlo took the sole parachute and landed safely in the Vatican Gardens (without the knowledge of the media or the devout in St Peter's Square). He then climbed up to the basilica and presented himself a perfect miracle to the cheering masses.

Meanwhile, Langdon had listened to Kohler's video tape, which was handed to him as Kohler died, on which Carlo confessed that he had killed the Pope and that he was responsible for the terrorist threat and the murder of the cardinals. In front of the horrified College of Cardinals, he tried to justify his actions, gathering only incomprehension. Then, Saverio Mortati, the Cardinal Dean told him the truth about the Pope; that he had fallen in love with a nun called Maria, that their child had been fathered through artificial insemination and he therefore broke no vow. Mortati also told him the child's name: Carlo Ventresca.

Horrified by the truth and his guilt, he burnt himself alive on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. His ashes, recovered by Mortati, later the new Pope, were put next to his father's sarcophagus.

Political and religious views

From early on in the story, the Camerlengo is revealed as extremely modern compared to other clergy. This is especially revealed when Lieutenant Chartrand remembers a conversation with the Camerlengo in which he asks about how God can be both omnipotent "and" benevolent. When he mentions children skateboarding, however, Chartrand understands that he is very "up with the times", so to speak.

Later on in the novel, however, he reveals himself to be very conservative indeed, especially when his liberal father, the Pope, reveals that he fathered a son. Not wanting to hear the rest of the story, the Camerlengo killed his father.