into line."
"Such as?"
"Banning them from accompanying Your Holiness on foreign trips. Locking them out of press briefings. Revoking their privileges at the Press Office."
"That seems awfully harsh."
"I doubt it will come to that. I'm sure we can convince him of the truth."
"Which truth is that?"
"That you were raised in Padua, in a loving home filled with much devotion to Christ and the Virgin." Brindisi smiled and brushed an invisible breadcrumb from his cassock. "But when one is battling this sort of thing, it can be helpful to have the complete picture so that we know what we're up against."
moment, as if preparing himself for a reading from the Gospel. "I oppose revisiting the issue because it will do nothing but give more ammunition to those who wish to destroy us."
"Our continued deception and evasion is more risky. If we do not speak forcefully and honestly, the work of our enemies will be accomplished by our own hand. We will destroy ourselves."
"If I may speak forcefully and honestly, Holiness, your naivety in this matter is shocking. Nothing the Church can say will ever satisfy those who condemn us. In fact, it will only add fuel to the fire. I cannot allow you to tread on the reputation of popes and the Church with this folly. Pius the Twelfth deserves sainthood, not another crucifixion."
Pietro Lucchesi had yet to be seduced by the trappings of papal power, but the blatant insubordination of Brindisi's remark stirred his anger. He forced himself to speak calmly. Even so, there was an edge of rage and condescension in his voice that was plain to the man seated on the other side of the table. "I can assure you, Marco, that those who wish for Pius to be canonized will have to pin their hopes on the outcome of the next conclave."
The cardinal ran a long, spidery finger around the rim of his coffee cup, steeling himself for one more assault on the ridge. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, "The Pole apologized on numerous occasions for the sins of some of the Church's sons and daughters. Other prelates have apologized as well. Some, such as our brethren in France, have gone much further than I would have preferred. But the Jews and their friends in the media will not be satisfied until we admit that we were wrong--that His Holiness Pope Pius the Twelfth, a great and saintly man, was wrong. What they do not understand--and what you seem to be forgetting, Holiness--is
that the Church, as the embodiment of Christ on earth, cannot be wrong. The Church is truth itself. If we admit that the Church, or a pope, was wrong . . ." He left his sentence unfinished, then added: "It would be an error for you to go forward with this initiative of yours, Holiness. A grave error."
"Behind these walls, Marco, error is a loaded word. Surely it is not your intention to level such an accusation at me."
"I have no intention of parsing my words, Holiness."
"And what if the documents contained in the Secret Archives tell a different story?"
"Those documents must never be released."
"I am the only one with the power to release documents from the Secret Archives, and I have decided that it will be done."
The cardinal fingered his pectoral cross. "When do you intend to announce this . .. initiative ?"
"Next week."
"Where?"
"Across the river," the Pope said. "At the Great Synagogue."
"Out of the question! The Curia hasn't had time to give the matter the thought and preparation it deserves."
"I'm seventy-two years old. I don't have time to wait for the mandarins of the Curia to give the matter thought and preparation. That, I'm afraid, is how things are buried and forgotten. The rabbi and I have spoken. I'm going to the ghetto next week, with or without the support of the Curia--or my secretary of state, for that matter. The truth, Eminence, shall make us free."
"And you, the street-urchin pope from the Veneto, pretend to know the truth."
"Only God knows the truth, Marco, but Thomas Aquinas wrote
of a cultivated
"Such as?"
"Banning them from accompanying Your Holiness on foreign trips. Locking them out of press briefings. Revoking their privileges at the Press Office."
"That seems awfully harsh."
"I doubt it will come to that. I'm sure we can convince him of the truth."
"Which truth is that?"
"That you were raised in Padua, in a loving home filled with much devotion to Christ and the Virgin." Brindisi smiled and brushed an invisible breadcrumb from his cassock. "But when one is battling this sort of thing, it can be helpful to have the complete picture so that we know what we're up against."
moment, as if preparing himself for a reading from the Gospel. "I oppose revisiting the issue because it will do nothing but give more ammunition to those who wish to destroy us."
"Our continued deception and evasion is more risky. If we do not speak forcefully and honestly, the work of our enemies will be accomplished by our own hand. We will destroy ourselves."
"If I may speak forcefully and honestly, Holiness, your naivety in this matter is shocking. Nothing the Church can say will ever satisfy those who condemn us. In fact, it will only add fuel to the fire. I cannot allow you to tread on the reputation of popes and the Church with this folly. Pius the Twelfth deserves sainthood, not another crucifixion."
Pietro Lucchesi had yet to be seduced by the trappings of papal power, but the blatant insubordination of Brindisi's remark stirred his anger. He forced himself to speak calmly. Even so, there was an edge of rage and condescension in his voice that was plain to the man seated on the other side of the table. "I can assure you, Marco, that those who wish for Pius to be canonized will have to pin their hopes on the outcome of the next conclave."
The cardinal ran a long, spidery finger around the rim of his coffee cup, steeling himself for one more assault on the ridge. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, "The Pole apologized on numerous occasions for the sins of some of the Church's sons and daughters. Other prelates have apologized as well. Some, such as our brethren in France, have gone much further than I would have preferred. But the Jews and their friends in the media will not be satisfied until we admit that we were wrong--that His Holiness Pope Pius the Twelfth, a great and saintly man, was wrong. What they do not understand--and what you seem to be forgetting, Holiness--is
that the Church, as the embodiment of Christ on earth, cannot be wrong. The Church is truth itself. If we admit that the Church, or a pope, was wrong . . ." He left his sentence unfinished, then added: "It would be an error for you to go forward with this initiative of yours, Holiness. A grave error."
"Behind these walls, Marco, error is a loaded word. Surely it is not your intention to level such an accusation at me."
"I have no intention of parsing my words, Holiness."
"And what if the documents contained in the Secret Archives tell a different story?"
"Those documents must never be released."
"I am the only one with the power to release documents from the Secret Archives, and I have decided that it will be done."
The cardinal fingered his pectoral cross. "When do you intend to announce this . .. initiative ?"
"Next week."
"Where?"
"Across the river," the Pope said. "At the Great Synagogue."
"Out of the question! The Curia hasn't had time to give the matter the thought and preparation it deserves."
"I'm seventy-two years old. I don't have time to wait for the mandarins of the Curia to give the matter thought and preparation. That, I'm afraid, is how things are buried and forgotten. The rabbi and I have spoken. I'm going to the ghetto next week, with or without the support of the Curia--or my secretary of state, for that matter. The truth, Eminence, shall make us free."
"And you, the street-urchin pope from the Veneto, pretend to know the truth."
"Only God knows the truth, Marco, but Thomas Aquinas wrote
of a cultivated
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