 The Portuguese government lambasted his 1991 novel "O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo" ("The Gospel according to Jesus Christ") and struck the writer's name from nominees for the European Literature Prize, saying the atheist work offended Portuguese Catholic convictions.The book portrays a Christ who, subject to human desires, lives with Mary Magdalene and tries to back out of the crucifixion.Following the Swedish Academy's decision to present Saramago with the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Vatican questioned the decision on political grounds, though gave no comment on the aesthetic or literary components of Saramago's work.