The Shoes of the Fisherman Page #5

...could have killed a man.

So as a bishop, you would give

your approval to social disorder?

I might be forced to accept it as

a price for social change. Yes.

You are walking a moral tightrope.

We all have to walk it. That

is what we pay for being men.

But what if you had killed the guard?

I don't know.

I... I don't know, Eminence.

I do know we are in

action in a brutal world.

The children of God are ours to

protect and if we have to fight...

...we fight.

I...

I think I've talked too much.

- Good night, Eminence.

- Good night, Your Eminence.

Rest well.

Kiril.

Kiril.

My brothers.

My brothers.

We have already failed seven

times to reach an election.

I stand now to claim a

right under Canon Law.

In all humility...

...I proclaim to you my belief

that there is among us a man.

...already marked by God to sit

in the chair of St. Peter.

Like the first of the Apostles...

this man has suffered prison

stripes for the faith.

The hand of God has led him out of

bondage to join us in this conclave.

I announce him...

...as my candidate and

dedicate to him my vote...

...and my obedience.

Kiril, Cardinal Lakota.

Thank you, Eminence, but I...

I cannot consent to it.

I, too, proclaim him.

I also proclaim him.

- No, please. Please, please wait.

- I also proclaim him.

I proclaim him.

Please, time has passed me by.

- I, too, proclaim him.

- And I proclaim him.

- I, too, proclaim him.

- I beg you!

- And I proclaim him.

- I, too, proclaim him.

- For the love of God!

- I, too, proclaim him.

I proclaim him.

Please, reconsider what you are doing.

Do you accept election?

You must answer now.

Do you accept election?

I...

I accept.

And may God have mercy on me.

How do you chose to be called?

We choose to be called by our name.

Kiril.

It was the name of the saint who first...

...carried the Gospel into our country.

Your Holiness.

How do you do? What are we...?

Congratulations, Your Holiness.

What?

Undress, please, Holiness.

- The cross.

- Thank you.

Excuse me.

- What is your name?

- Gelasio, Holiness.

I'm Kiril Lakota.

Please pray for me.

Thank you.

Eminence, I hope you realize

what you have done.

Gaudium magnum. And joyous tidings.

We have a pope.

It's the Russian.

Kiril Lakota.

They've elected a Russian pope.

The College of Cardinals have elected

the first non-Italian pope...

...since Adrian VI...

With the world in a state of crisis. It

is impossible at this time to assess...

...what the ramifications might be.

- Holiness?

- Oh, Eminence.

- Today's appointments.

- Oh, yes.

Excuse me, my glasses.

Everybody wants to see the pope.

Bishops, businessmen.

Cinema actors?

I suggest you take it up with the

maestro di camera, Holiness.

Oh, I will. I will. Today.

No, we have to make some changes, Leone.

Otherwise I... I will

never get any work done.

I'm glad it's your Holiness and not myself.

But I need time to think. And to pray.

I hate the sensation of being managed.

The management of princes.

- It used to be a very special game.

- Yes.

You elected a man to absolute power and

then you had to limit his use of it.

Sometimes it's not a bad idea.

On the matter of Father Telemond...

...he has a brilliant mind

and deep spirituality.

I would like to keep him close to me...

...as a personal adviser.

With respect, Holiness, I

should counsel against it.

- Why?

- His opinions are suspect.

- They have been under examination.

- His opinions may be suspect...

...but the person, we

believe, is a godly man.

If Your Holiness chooses Father Telemond...

...you will be lending patronage and

authority to an unsuitable person.

Has there been any imputation against

his character or his rite as a priest?

It is opinions which are

suspect, not the man.

That makes the situation very dangerous.

We recognize the risk, but

we are disposed to take it.

You will convey to the commissioners

our desire for a quick verdict...

...on the works of Father Telemond.

I will do that, Holiness.

But once again, I must emphasize

the very real danger...

As Your Holiness decides.

Thank you.

Starvation has again

increased in China.

And military action

appears imminent.

There is a postscript I

want you all to hear.

A personal letter from Chairman Peng.

"I'm prepared to go to

extraordinary lengths...

...with the Soviet Union and the U.S.A.

to avert a horrible disaster.

But I have to warn you that if

the terms are too strenuous...

or if they do violence to the

dignity of the Chinese people...

...the situation will

pass out of my control...

...into the control of the army.

I urge you to convince the Western

world of the magnitude of our need...

...and of the risk of war,

which confronts us all."

We are at a minute to midnight, tovarich.

If the ants march out of the ant heap...

there will be ruin and misery

too horrible to contemplate.

Next picture, please.

Why do you laugh?

They laugh because this man was a

political prisoner for 20 years.

So today he has been elected

head of the Vatican City State.

He is spiritual leader

of 800 million people.

He can talk with every leader in the

West with the strongest voice of all.

The Catholic vote at the ballot box.

You must think of that,

you know, tovarich.

Think what it might mean if

he spoke the right word...

...at the right time.

His Holiness is ready.

Your Holiness?

- Yes?

- Mr. Igor Bounin.

Send him in.

Mr. Bounin?

I send you a gift.

Earth from the Ukraine. Sunower seeds.

Piotr Ilych Kamenev.

There is no other message?

"My respects and my compliments

upon your election.

The earth is sacred because it

is all we have to stand on.

The seeds are sacred...

because there is life locked inside them.

I hope that they may come

to flower in your garden."

I have heard your voice before.

We have met.

We have, sir, yes.

- You had another name.

- I have many names.

Of course. You sat at some of the

interrogations with Kamenev.

Yes, sir, that is correct.

Go on with your message.

"We shall be at war within two months.

There is no way in which China can..."

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, will

you please repeat that?

"We shall be at war within two months.

There is no way in which

China can come to terms...

...with the capitalist powers."

Go on.

"Would you commit to a double risk?

To speak to the Western world

on behalf of the Chinese...

...and the Chinese on behalf of the West?

This would entail a face-to-face

meeting with Chairman Peng.

He has agreed to come if you will come."

Is that all?

- There is a little more.

- Yes?

"You believe you stand in God's shoes.

I must wear my own.

Greetings, Piotr Ilych Kamenev."

Mr. Bounin...

...how do you interpret the...? The letter?

I have no interpretation, sir.

Not even on such important matters?

No, sir. It is a matter

between Kiril Lakota...

...and Piotr Ilych Kamenev.

And you are to carry back my answer?

If there is one, yes.

- Here.

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