Is this what you originally wanted: appearing in front of everyone with a charming smile, open arms to receive the cheers of thousands, sending your greetings to the world with a friendly and even flattering voice; At that moment, the rainstorm stopped, the clouds dissipated, and the sun shone brightly on the earth. You are the highest embodiment of God's will, you are the embodiment of human love...
But all this is only in dreams.
The faithful finally waited for the first sermon of the new Pope Pius XIII, and they filled St. Peter's Square with cheers like a tsunami. And Pius XIII appeared on the balcony in the middle of the night, shrouded in shadows, without showing goodwill or greetings, he opened with a stern accusation:
"What have we forgotten? What have we forgotten! We have forgotten the Lord! You! You have forgotten the Lord!"
It is not so much a sermon as a reprimand, an intimidation. There was no more cheers or applause. The believers were like children who did wrong, cowardly and speechless.
When the Pope was provoked and angered and left, lightning flashed across the sky, and the rain poured like a rain, like a punishment from God. The frightened and bewildered believers were left screaming in the rain.
To be honest, I was also at a loss when I saw this. This sermon is almost completely different from the situation in his dream. I can't tell which one should be regarded as a dream. I think I have been deeply humored.
The new Pope, Lenny Berardo, Pope Pius XIII, was young, handsome, with charming blue eyes, but he didn't have a good skin. Bishop, the high foot of Michael Spencer, who was most likely to become Pope. His youthful prowess and prudence as a bishop led Holy See Secretary of State Voilo to believe that he would be a "compromising" pope - a bridge between radicals and conservatives in the church. His election seems to be just the product of a power struggle. He will be just a puppet in front of the camera and a tool for Woilo Vision to realize his political rights.
However, after a round, Voilo realized that his wishful thinking had failed, and this young man with the face of Jesus would not be under his control at all.
Only then did he realize that he knew nothing about the Pope.
He refuses to appear in public, refuses to take pictures, he wants to make himself invisible; he does not preach publicly, but threatens his followers with bans and keeps them away from the church; His ulterior weakness held the entire Holy See in his hands; he appeared in the Sistine Chapel wearing a triple crown and gave a speech that shocked the cardinals; he easily pierced Voilo's conspiracy and insisted on Send the inexperienced Bernardo to investigate the Cotwell case. He is smart, witty, cunning, ruthless, and fearless.
He's an old-fashioned hard-line politician, a ruthless dictator, a pure and unblemished saint...weird and complicated.
"Lenny, who are you?"
"I am a paradox, like God, the Trinity; like Mary, both a virgin and a mother, like a man, both good and evil."
1. Lenny as an orphan
This is what we saw at the very beginning of the show. A baby climbs on top of a pile of babies who can't tell whether they are dead or alive, and the atmosphere is gloomy and eerie. Then our pope in white climbed out of it and stood up.
The camera pulls away, and we see the tall baby pyramid towering in the center of St. Peter's Square, with Lenny looking left and right, alone, with the faint sound of thunder.
I can't find a valid interpretation of the image of the baby pyramid. I can only guess that it may imply those aborted fetuses and abandoned children, and Lenny is only one of them. Laney was unequivocally opposed to any form of abortion and was excommunicating women who had abortions. In his debate with Spencer, he always stood by his position, which he saw as an inexcusable killing of life. It cannot be said that there is no resentment towards his parents.
Laney's parents abandoned him "without any reason", and he was not heard from in his life for 40 years, which formed the basis of all his obsessions.
The first is his obsession with "absence".
"Absence is also attendance." The mystery of absence arouses people's almost "morbid" curiosity about existence - the more hidden things are, the more they have to be discovered. The absence of his parents kept him on the lookout; he approached his relationship with believers by that logic. As Pope, Christ incarnate on earth, father and mother to the entire Catholic Church; by his absence from the sight of the faithful, he makes himself mysterious and unattainable, which he believes will excite the faithful With a heart of curiosity and dedication to him, he returned to the embrace of the church without hesitation, and solved all the mysteries about him, about God, and about faith through suffering and sacrifice.
Spencer is regarded by Laney as his spiritual father. He knew him arguably better than anyone, even himself. Spencer sees Lenny as a wounded, wayward, unwilling child.
But on the other hand, his first sermons terrified the elders of the Holy See, who saw him as a rebel. So much so that the oldest Bishop Caltanissetta would say:
In his sermon on the balcony of the church in St. Peter's Square, Laney said, "If you can't prove that God doesn't exist, then God does." But asking "whether God exists" is an outdated and meaningless question. Beginning with Bruno, the foundation of the theological world has been constantly shaken. The development of modern science seems to have destroyed the entire system of the theological world. Philosophy has gradually been separated from the control of theology, so that a philosopher like Nietzsche finally roared "God is dead". With the emancipation of human nature by the Romantic movement, man gradually elevated himself to the status of God. From the scepter of God, people fight for the rights that belong to people—class equality, gender equality, and fight back for many freedoms—the freedom of reproduction and the freedom of homosexuality for the dignity of being a human being. The greater the degree of human self-liberation, the further away from the original teachings. The church can no longer control the secular world, and has turned to the tide, giving new interpretations to those harsh dogmas. So God only manifests "love". And believers also jumped from being controlled to being flattered. For 400 years, no pope has been so hostile to believers and reprimanded as the current Pope Pius XIII.
Is he preaching old-fashioned fallacies?
However, since the world did not start with God's "there should be light", there is no heaven above the sky, and there is no hell in the center of the earth, since the astronomical telescope has long seen that God does not exist, and those surreal miracles have long been rejected by reason. Why has science failed to uproot theology? Why is there still room for God in modern society? - This is the core of modern theology, why should people rely on God?
But Pius XIII was as stubborn, conservative, and inflexible as an old man, and he had to push the question back to the point—whether God exists.
Does God exist? - He is the last person to ask this question. But he is indeed the one who is the least secretive about his doubts. At the age of fourteen he performed miracles, and in his prayers, Billy's dying mother was restored to health. But when Andrew talked to him about it, he refused to bring it up again, saying he "didn't want to talk about things he didn't understand". What he didn't understand was: since God could answer his prayers and keep Billy's mother healthy, why did he ignore his greatest wish—to see his parents again.
Does God exist? - That's the question he asked himself.
In the memories of the dream and the fantasy, the images of his parents kept appearing, they didn't leave a name, they didn't say a word, they disappeared not far from the orphanage, they left by boat... He was so eager to see them again, He's been to many places, he's been praying, if God really exists, wouldn't he grant his wishes?
On the day he was orphaned, his childhood ended, so he seemed mature and cautious. But for years he was still searching like the child who had just been left behind.
"Let the little ones come to me, and don't forbid them, because in the kingdom of heaven, such people are."
2. Lenny as a fighter
The first thing Lenny fought was the life of the cardinals, and the first to be the clergyman, Voilo, who held the most power. At the first meeting, Laney asked him to pour coffee for himself (Voilo has since developed the habit of pouring coffee for the Pope) and arranged for Sister Mary to be his "guardian angel"; he gave him almost all suggestions and plans. Not accepted; after the scandalous plan leaked, Laney sneered at him, telling him clearly that he was the most powerful politician in the Vatican... The self-obsessed Voilo finally bowed his head and surrendered after gradually realizing the reality. .
He exiled the disrespectful O'Zorlins to cold Alaska, dismissed the gay priesthood, and despite objections insisted on arranging Bernardo to investigate the Cotwell case.
When he appeared in the Sistine Chapel with the triple crown on his head, his solemn and gorgeous image seemed to be the highest manifestation of divinity and power.
And his speech this time was even more shocking than the one on the balcony of the church in St. Peter's Square. He believes that the attitude of the church should be changed from open to closed, and it should no longer reach out to the outside world, but to be a cement without windows, waiting for true believers to seek the truth. The only way to bring value back to the church is to shut down and allow yourself—
The secularization of religion has made it popular and popular among ordinary people, but their feelings towards the church are nothing but respect and friendliness, which, for Pope Pius XIII, was far from enough. None of these, in his view, were real emotions, but "substitutes." What he wanted was "absolute love and complete devotion to God." Large numbers of believers are useless, they may not be attentive to their faith at all, they may be indifferent to God, or they may not have God in their hearts at all. Love cannot be measured by quantity, only by intensity.
In a note prepared for the Italian Prime Minister, he listed "prohibition of de facto marriage, prohibition of same-sex marriage, prohibition of abortion for any reason, prohibition of divorce for any reason, prohibition of any attempt to accept euthanasia, and restrictions on freedom of belief and religion" and so on. The conflicting articles on human rights make me think I have encountered a mad pope whose prohibitions, in modern society, do not seem to work. God has been completely eliminated, how many people can have such a firm belief in religion? The emphasis on human rights has surpassed everything, and the trend of human liberation is irreversible. Can he stop the trend of history?
The character of Pius XIII is not without foundation.
The 264th Pope, St. John Paul II (16 October 1978 to 2 April 2005), embarked on the path of theology after being orphaned. He is a Polish borrower and succeeded Pope at 58 years old. He has previously worked as an athlete and playwright, all of which are groundbreaking in the history of Catholicism for more than 2,000 years.
John Paul II opposed abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, criticized feminism, liberation theology, and more. He is generally considered conservative, but only doctrinally. For example, he also supported rock stars in advocating the African debt relief movement, opposing the US-Iraq war and so on. He is also the pope with the most visits in history, with a total of 102 papal visits. He is not only the first pope to visit an Orthodox country since the East-West Church split in 1054, but also the first pope to visit a mosque . John Paul II has experienced the death of his relatives, World War II, and assassination. On the one hand, he is widely popular, and on the other hand, some of his policies have also caused widespread criticism. He is a complex and legendary Pope.
Of course The Young Pope is not a biography of John Paul II, let's go back to Lenny.
This was Lenny's first syncope. This scene seems abrupt.
Esther looks like the Virgin Mary.
She said she liked Lenny's sermons. Lenny says just liking isn't enough. She said she understood - it was respect.
respect. Is it respect for God? Is it respect for yourself?
Most people are "tourists" of the faith, take a look and leave with ease. The so-called faith, if there is no reverence, no firm will, how can we talk about respect? Believers like tourists, their attitude towards faith is not only disrespect to God, but also disrespect to themselves.
Both internally and externally, Pius XIII was a hardliner. This triple crown he was thinking about:
The first wearer was Pope Innocent III (reigned from January 8, 1198 to July 16, 1216), who once used the holy name of Christ to preach the right of the church above all else, and even believed that the pope should have more rights than anything else. The higher status of the secular monarch.
The confrontation with the Italian prime minister is more like a blackmail with votes as a bargaining chip.
On that note were the following items: more support for Catholic families, more funding for Catholic schools, higher taxes, more bank benefits for the Holy See, restrictions on freedom of belief and religion - especially Muslims and Hindus, about lats The second discussion of the Treaty of Lanzhou re-examines the territorial boundaries of the Vatican.
He emphasized the "indigenous" status of Catholicism to the Greenland women, saying that other religions were mere passers-by. He asked the Greenlandian woman "what's under the ice in your country" and said "maybe God". The God that Pius XIII spoke of could only be a Catholic God, not a Protestant God. Is this a hint of expanding theocracy?
Resentment toward parents, doubts about God, and desire for power, let out his confusion and anger throughout the church. Like a kangaroo ready to fight at any time (kangaroos are known for their "fierce". Every time a kangaroo appears, it indicates that Lenny is going to do something, even "reckless").
Andrew's death gave him a great blow.
He looked tired, as if he had aged a lot overnight.
In the end, he took Sophie's advice and went to Africa for his first missionary visit since he became Pope. The war-torn Africa was full of corpses, and the people's hunger, thirst and poverty had a deep impact on him. He was indignant at Sister Antonia's bad behavior. Therefore, perform miracles again.
Spencer was lingering on the sick bed, making him sad and helpless. He said to those around him like a wronged child: "I love you."
As if the ice was melting.
Kangaroo is dead. The death of the kangaroo seems to imply the death of the "fighter" Lenny, the angry Lenny. (The death of the kangaroo is a heart injury, which is a hint to the later plot.)
"Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way that leads to destruction, and many people enter in; but the gate is narrow and the way that leads to eternal life, and few find it. ."
3. The Son of God
(Doubtful: In the African speech he says he " saw peace on the banks of the Corolla at the age of eight " while he was with his parents, while the play shows that Laney was sent to an orphanage at seven , not knowing Is this a dream or the lines are wrong.)
Maybe this is his destiny? Maybe his parents saw his prayers and recognized his fate, so they sent him to the church's orphanage?
He asked the three callings why they chose a priest. The first thing he asked was Voilo. Voilo said he has no fancy reasons, just a tendency to become a priest. When Voilo questioned him, he gave speechless silence.
He told Bernardo that he had no better choice but to become a priest.
When he and Andrew imagined the future, they hoped to be baseball players, old gas station workers on country roads, brave soldiers, New York bottom musicians, firefighters or sailors, but in the end they had to choose simple. Boring priests work to live a cold life. An orphan who has nothing and knows nothing about the outside world, as he writes in his love letter, his understanding of love comes only from pop songs.
It might be an afternoon. Tranquil, boring. The breeze swept the treetops, caressed the bushes, and shook the branches, like the Holy Spirit. He saw a believer reading the Bible in the cloister. Was his calling originally this peacefulness in devotion?
Saint Augustine said: "Our hearts cannot be at rest until we rest in you (God)."
Years of not getting what he wanted made Lenny question God, and he also questioned himself.
The topic of religious belief and reason is a commonplace in the West, but for us, because of the lack of corresponding background knowledge, it may not be so comprehensive to understand. As early as the Middle Ages, St. Thomas reconciled philosophy, reason, and Christian revelation and belief. The "truth that God does exist" can be learned through both the paths of faith and reason. Faith and revelation are more reliable, while rational words are easily lost.
Juana first appeared with a tearful face. Laney had just heard Juana's story and was skeptical. Maybe Juana in his heart is a child as miserable as he is. But Juana is a happy child, a saint who heals children with joy. Aromatic mandarin is a revelation to Lenny.
The wounded child in Laney's heart was healed. He seemed to have found the roots of his faith again.
Little Lenny grew into Lenny.
Caltanissetta once said:
Laney affirmed this fact.
When he asked Spencer how to save the church's fate, Spencer replied:
Laney said that he had given up looking for his parents, and he had given up asking God. Sister Mary said, you didn't go after it at all, you kept hiding. He was faced with a "breakthrough" choice.
He is looking for his parents, and he wants his followers to find out about God (whether God exists). His parents are hidden from him. He is hidden from his followers. God is hidden from them.
Back to Venice.
Laney makes a public appearance and preaches with Juana's story.
He choked up several times, and finally said "God is a smile." He asked the believers present to smile and look down through the telescope prepared by Bernardo. His parents appeared in the crowd.
They were still dressed almost as they were when they were young, with the same expressionless faces, even those around them. His mother turned first, then his father, and they left together.
"God is a smile" There was no smile in the crowd at this time. But an indifferent indifference.
Lenny shook and nearly fell, but he fought back the pain and continued with a tearful smile and a smile, "one day I will die, and I will finally be embrace you all. One by one. Yes. I will. I have faith that I will. (One day I will die, and then I will finally have the opportunity to embrace each of you. Yes. I will do it. I firmly believe I will.) "
These words are addressed to believers. I believe it was also said to his parents. Because at this moment he can finally let go.
Laney fell to the ground in pain with his hands on his chest.
In the fog, he saw the Virgin in the sky open her hands to him.
This is the martyrdom of Jesus.
Jesus rose from the dead. He died as a mortal and came back to earth as a god. This may be seen as the breaking of Lenny's knot, a complete break with the past.
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks will receive; whoever seeks will find; whoever knocks, the door will be opened to him."
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