In the autumn of 1853, Wiseman went to Rome, where Pius IX gave full approval to his ecclesiastical policy. It was during this visit to Rome that Wiseman projected, and began to write, by far the most popular book that came from his versatile pen, the historical romance, "Fabiola", a tale of the Church of the Catacombs. The book appeared at the end of 1854, and its success was immediate and phenomenal. Translations of it were published in almost every European language. Wiseman wrote "Fabiola" in part as an answer to the vigorously anti-Catholic book "Hypatia" (1853) by Charles Kingsley. The novel was mainly aimed at the embattled Catholic minority in England.