Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
He says when the other cardinals’s grew fearful of his conservative tendencies when they heard Lenny had chosen the name Pope Pius XIII (the continuation of a long line of conservative Popes). Lenny declares, “I reveled in their fear. They chose a Pope they did not know. And today, they begin to understand.”
So they do!
Lenny’s former mentor, Cardinal Michael Spencer, and Cardinal Voiello are the first to have to deal with the repercussions. While the expectation had been that Spencer would become Pope and Voiello would continue on as Secretary of State, that’s clearly not the case anymore. The other cardinals are equally doubtful that Voiello can control the young Pope.
The press and public certainly hasn’t responded positively to Lenny’s homily about devoting oneself completely to the terrible power of God. Voiello asks him to hold a press conference, or to let him go speak with the press in the Pope’s stead, both offers which Lenny declines. Lenny then proceeds to exile the cardinal in charge of arranging the Pope’s travel arrangements to Alaska, which seems to be a thing he does regularly with people who displease him.
He then says that Sister Mary (Diane Keaton) will go and speak with the press on his behalf. She proceeds to read a statement from the People declaring his “total indifference to your doubts and criticisms” and that he will tolerate no dissent as he “carries out his plan.”
As he goes on to explain to Cardinal Spencer, his plan is to remain elusive. As he puts it, “absence is presence. This is the fundamental of mystery. Everyone must learn it takes sacrifice and suffering to find God…they have to find him in the cold and the dark of night.” (The Cardinal who is living in Alaska will surely have plenty of time to find God in the cold and dark, that’s for sure!)
Cardinal Spencer tells Lenny that Lenny’s philosophy is shaped only because he is an orphan, abandoned by his parents. He assures him that if he carries on as he has been, he’ll be the worst pope ever.
You tell him, Cardinal Spencer!
Perhaps in response, the Pope asks to see a young woman named Esther (Ludivine Sagnier), the wife of a Swiss guard, who has been gazing up adoringly at the balcony of the Papal Palace since his homily. She’s the same woman we saw debating the nature of love at the beginning of the last episode. She tells the Pope she loved his homily and perceived the truth in it. After hearing this, the Pope faints into her arms.
Voiello later talks to the Pope and finally shouts at him that he was supposed to be a bridge between the more conservative and more liberal members of the clergy. “Fuck! You were supposed to share your sovereignty with my advice!” He shouts. The Pope threatens to depose him, Voiello replies that the Pope has no idea how vast his powers are.
Voiello goes to speak with Cardinal Spencer to beg him to try to “fortify God.” Cardinal Spencer is almost certainly one of the only people the Pope will listen to, so this seems like a good plan. Cardinal Spencer goes to Lenny to tell him that he’s willing to accept the appointment to Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, but Lenny refuses and tells him it is too late. It seems there will be no one but Sister Mary to ameliorate the effects of Lenny’s rule as Pope.
The bishops come to the Pope to tell them that the faithful are fearful as a result of Lenny’s homily. Lenny replies, “what made our church great? Fear, or tolerance?” The answer he has in mind is not tolerance.
Afterwards, Lenny takes a walk through the orange groves with Gutierrez. He tells him the story of how he won over a woman in his youth by juggling.
It’s an uncharacteristically nice moment. Immediately after Cardinal Voiello appears in Gutierrez’s room to tell him that the secret to his power has been knowing everyone’s secrets. He proceeds reveal that he knows that Gutierrez is an alcoholic (who seems to have a real taste for stuffed animals, in addition to gin).
Voiello suggests that Gutierrez tell him the things that Pope and he discuss. If Gutierrez refuses, Voiello swears he’ll have him sent away from the Vatican forever. Gutierrez assures him they talk of nothing of great significance, but Voiello seems to read a great deal into Lenny’s mention of an old girlfriend. Voiello concludes by saying that he knows Gutierrez will do as he asks because Gutierrez is a “fearful man.”
Sometimes fear is a more useful emotion than tolerance after all.
Jennifer Wright is the author of It Ended Badly: 13 of the Worst Break-Ups in History and Get Well Soon: The Worst Plagues in History. Follow her on twitter @JenAshleyWright.
