- Do you know what it is ? - It's a millipede.
No. It's God.
- Mum and Dad are looking for us. - We can't go back now.
- Why not ? - Because we're watching God, John.
- Sir John, they are in a hurry. - I'm not.
"In a higher world it is otherwise, but here below, to live is to change
and to be perfect is to have changed often."
You're a devious one, Danny.
Ensnaring me with the words of my beloved Newman.
We should only take Valencia.
And the box.
You were right as always, Danny, she is splendid.
It's Megan, Sir. She does not know what to wear.
What a nyusance !
Tell her I'll phone her later.
That's not enough !
We'll have to go to the higher ups.
You're throwing me out.
Where are Pius and I suppose to go now ? On the street ?
I'm not throwing you out, Ester. The owner is.
Thanks to me, you have been living here, ever since Peter left you.
But the owner wants his house back. He has rights, too, doesn't he ?
I can start paying rent again.
The Italian Swiss TV is doing a show on Pius XIII's miracles, and I...
Ester, you can't live off the odd TV appearance. You need a steady job.
I clean your church. That's a steady job.
But it's only two hours a day Ester. Not enough to get by on.
- I can look for another cleaning job. - And what will you do with Pius ?
Who's going to watch him while you're in Rome ?
So, what am I supposed to do now ?
You need another miracle, Ester.
You've all abandoned me.
Even you, Lenny.
- Marvelous but dated. - Like me.
My favourite famous people are Dennis Hopper,
Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, Sharon Stone and...
- Marilyn Manson. - What do you like about them ?
- They seem free. - And you like liberty ?
You know the answer. Don't ask such obvious questions.
If you become pope, liberty is the one outfit you won't be able to wear.
- Will I be able to see you every day ? - Don't ask such obvious questions.
You remind me of my favourite actor: John Malkovich.
He doesn't do much for me.
The others, if I were to become Pope, might I be able to meet them ?
All, except Dennis Hopper. There shouldn't be any problem for the others.
It's considered an honor to meet the pontiff.
Finally ! A sensible reason for inspiring to the papacy.
I found a photograph in my room, tucked in a draw of you with the Queen.
And you are implying what ? That I put it there to impress you ?
I'm getting old.
And old age perhaps pushes us to employ these pathetic little tricks.
- What's she like ? The queen ? - Enchanting.
Because she is pale. Like you.
Hello.
Yes, wear the yellow Dior.
Because it plays up the contrast with your complexion.
No. No, Megan. I'm adamant. Wear the yellow Dior, I said.
- Was that Megan ? - Regrettably yes.
They want to be "influencers", yet they have no idea of color combinations.
She calls me 25 times a day for beauty tips. She thinks I'm gay.
Are you ?
Did you hear about the attack in Somalia ?
I'm devastated.
- Do you find me bombastic ? - Not at all.
And yet that is precisely what I am. Bombast has been a defect
which I simply cannot seem to control like all Anglo-Saxons.
On the news, they said they may have used a boy to carry out the attack.
I know. And I am not, in fact, devastated.
Nor I am experiencing the least bit of guilt over my lack of feelings.
Africa is far away.
Perhaps you are committed to suffering only for those who are close to you.
I am aware of the opinion you've formed of me, Gutierrez.
You think I am a socialite.
Socializing is important. Think how many remarkable things
happened for Jesus during the Last Supper.
That was a social event.
Were I'd come to Rome, I should like to be your friend as well.
It would be an honor and a pleasure for me.
I should tell you something, straight away, as a friend.
My parents charted a great ecclesiastical career
for my brother Adam but not for me.
They told to me every day of my life that I'd never amount to anything.
Why were they so mean ?
We are not yet good enough friends for me to tell you that, Bernardo.
I have only come here to tell you that I, John Brannox,
may be the next pope of Rome.
I know you've always thought that it was Adam's destiny.
But it seems that maybe mine.
Even though this was the last thing you would ever wish for,
you shall be condemned to be proud of me,
you poor old bastards.
God doesn't like you.
All my life, I have negated myself,
in the pathetic attempt to alleviate your suffering.
To no avail !
I became my brother in the hopes of bringing a smile to your faces.
Even just once. To no avail.
But now, it all makes sense.
For it has served to make me pope. Me, not Adam !
I will be pope
and I will continue to forsake myself as I've done for you for these years.
Only now I will be doing for all the Catholics in the world.
For that is what love means to me: forsaking myself.
You're the ones who taught me that, hating me every day.
And so, after living my life
in the service of my mother, my father, my brother,
and receiving nothing but contempt, I should now live my life
in the service of the Church and its people,
hoping to receive, for the first time, an ounce of affection.
I can be pope.
Because I know how to endure suffering.
Others don't.
You're going too slow.
Nearly there.
John, I'm done !
Adam, I am nothing but falsehood and vanity;
the armor I wear, to hide the truth.
I only suffer for what is close to me.
How true ! I only suffer for you, Adam.
I let our family die. Nothing else matters.
Nothing touches me. Everything disgusts me.
Which is why God does not like me.
God didn't like me either.
Because God's love is not simply given.
You have to earn it, step by step. You have to grow.
Are you ready to take the first step ? Are you ready to grow up ?
Please, come in. Make yourselves comfortable.
I wanted to see you, in order to tell you something in person.
I have decided to decline your proposal.
I have no intention whatsoever of being your candidate at the conclave.
May I ask why ?
Because, despite appearances, I am not equal to the task.
Your sincerity and humility
will be greatly appreciated by the College of Cardinals.
And by the faithful the world over. God will help you, Sir John.
- Only He is equal to the task. - Yes.
I have decided not to choose.
Not choosing being the only thing at which I truly excel.
We are out of time... We have to get to Rome immediately.
Tomorrow is pope Francis II's funeral, the world is waiting.
Voiello, why don't you take a step back and let Hernandez be elected ?
That seems like the most reasonable plan, Eminence.
You could certainly reach an agreement that satisfies both of you.
Hernandez would gladly reconfirm you as Secretary of State
in order to be elected pope.
Hernandez covered up all the sexual abuse in his dioceses.
Did you know that ? No, no you didn't. But I did.
I spend my life gathering information.
Hernandez will never be pope as long as I live.
Moreover, we have only one candidate, that is Sir John Brannox.
A piece of fragile porcelain, but consequently without sin.
I am not a piece of fragile porcelain, I am a man of steel laden with sins,
but I also possess unimaginable powers of persuasion.
Now, look at those two roses.
Do you notice anything ?
Flowers are vain.
Sir John, I wanted to say goodbye
and to thank you for the marvelous hospitality you have shown us.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
When do you leave ?
Tomorrow morning, bright and early. The conclave awaits !
You will forgive me for not attending, won't you ? I am quite done in.
But of course. It is not a problem. Your vote would be superfluous.
Fortunately, we have unanimously converged on a new candidate.
Needless to say, we are all greatly relieved.
I am delighted that the matter has been resolved,
and that my reticence would not present a problem for the future of our Church.
Not at all. The Holy Spirit has illumined us once again.
And the Church will continue on its way.
Goodbye Voiello. It's a great pleasure meeting you.
The pleasure was mine, Sir John.
Eminence !
I was... I was wondering, pure curiosity on my part,
what is the name of the cardinal upon whom you all unanimously converge ?
Count Francois De Bougainville.
- Norman nobility. - Exactly.
Goodbye, Sir John.
Just a minute !
Valencia suffers from car sickness. You won't mind if he rides in the front ?
Whenever you are unsure which choice to make,
if you wish, I am here to help you.
Agreed. By the way, Eminence, last night I was looking
for the name Francois de Bougainville in the account pontifical yearbook.
- But it wasn't there. Why not ? - Because he died six years ago.
What a rascal you are !
What will Megan do without me ?
Tommaso Viglietti, are you sleeping ?
The Pope is truly dead.
Who do I play with ? Come and play, Marcellino !
The ball !
- Father, is he a new parishioner ? - Yes, Fabiano, a friend of mine.
We were in the seminary together, but then he left.
He has just moved to our parish.
He lived in Santa Marinella and was recently widowed.
I'm counting on you to include him in our community.
Of course.
- Is your son the birthday boy ? - Yes, Pius.
Will you forgive me for having come without a present ?
Of course.
When my wife, wife was alive, this never would have happened.
I've heard, I'm sorry.
It was God's will.
What do you do ?
Mine is an ancient, useless profession:
I repair watches.
Why useless ?
Because no one repairs anything any more.
They just replace everything.
Not everything is replaceable, though.
- Might I ask you a favor ? - Of course.
Would you be so kind as to keep an eye on my son Marcellino ?
I need to leave for a moment.
Where are you going ?
I need to see the sunset.
John Brannox, 115 votes out of 116.
Lenny Belardo, one vote. Habemus papam.
What a tasteless joke, giving Lenny Belardo a vote.
Do you accept your canonical election
as Supreme Pontiff ?
I accept.
By what name do you wish to be called ?
I will be called John Paul III.
Do you remember me, Holy Father ?
I do, yes. You were enthusiastic and ambitious.
I haven't changed.
I knew you'd come.
- How did you know ? - Because we're so alone, Ester.
Thank you, brothers and sisters.
I look upon you and I see a hidden grace,
which is a truth.
That is what you are.
You look upon me and you see a fragile old man with a beard.
That is what I am.
Now you are thinking:
so this is the pope, the new bishop of Rome !
He must know so much !
No ! That is not true. I do not know.
That is why I want to learn.
Let us learn together, brothers and sisters.
Me, here, in my new home, and you, together with your families.
We must never forget the beauty and the strength of family.
Whenever we cannot manage to see the beauty,
it is because the truth has been hidden.
Let us uncover that truth, place it on the kitchen table
and your family will grow stronger.
That is who you are.
And let us try to eliminate prejudices.
Those who have prejudices do not know the facts.
That is not who you are.
Let us grow in the tenderness of our intimacy
and in the intimacy of our tenderness.
That is who you are.
And do not think, brothers and sisters,
we must not think.
The Church must not think.
It needs only to protect the fragile.
Our mission is to recognize, preserve and value fragility.
That fragility which hides in the opaque cold of night
or in the crystalline cold of midday.
Wherever there is fragility, there is the Church.
That is who we are.
We are a truth.
I ran back to my shop and I found the perfect gift for Pius,
in the bottom of a drawer; a client forgot it a year ago.
You shouldn't have.
And yet, deep down, I sensed that I should.
- You look like Angel. - I'm not "Angelo", I'm Fabiano.
I meant, you look like an angel.
My spiritual father always told me that.
Why don't you shave that hair off ? It looks better.
Look what a fabulous gift I have for you !
Two fifth-row tickets for the musical on the last judgment at the Sistina.
- A musical in the Sistine Chapel ? - No, at the Theater Sistina.
Father, we are cloistered nuns.
How silly of me !
I keep forgetting that you can't leave the premises.
So, you didn't come to ask about the musical ?
We came because Sister Lisette's mother has cancer, stage IV.
Her dying wish is to go to Lourdes with her daughter.
The sisters took up a collection, but we only have 90 euro.
- We need 200 more. - Absolutely.
This is a question of the highest priority.
But...
but I want to be honest with you, though:
the Vatican, as you certainly know,
is in the midst of a profound financial crisis
and all the offices have been ordered to rein in their,
what shall we say, extravagant expenses.
Does this seem like an extravagant expense to you ?
An extravagant expense is the Bentley that Cardinal Spalletta is driving.
Mario, I have two tickets for "The Last Judgment" at the Sistina.
Want to come with me ? We'll go for a pizza after.
I shall personally see to your request as soon as possible, Sisters.
I don't believe him one word !
- News ? - Spalletta's bought a Bentley.
Anything else ?
No, nothing important.
And who are you ?
Faisal.
- That's it Holy Father. We're done. - What ? No nudes ?
Have you lost your minds ?
The cardinals are on their way to the Sistine Chapel.
- The pope is going to address them. - We want to talk with Voiello.
- I have already spoken with him. - Why didn't you tell us ?
- What were you waiting for ? - I was waiting for the right time.
- And when might that be ? - When it is the right time.
Voiello !
It frightens me to think what I am for you,
but what I am with you consoles me.
For you, I am the Bishop of Rome, with you, I am a Christian.
Welcome, brother cardinals.
We only have one problem. I don't know of any other.
The problem is love.
You will come to me and you will say: Holy Father, idolatry is taking root
in the form of a cult devoted to Pius XIII,
there are worrisome currents of terrorism at work within Islam,
depressing business concerns weighing on the Curia,
aberrations of sexual behavior, crises of work and ethics,
men who murder women, women who murder their children.
You will come to me and you will tell me all this suffering in the world.
And I will say to you: they are all hysterias of love.
Distortions of our ability to love.
The problem, brothers, is love.
The question, then, is: how are we to love ?
This is my way: with tenderness, without passion.
Passion is the eternal enemy of humility.
Christian humility, which is frugal,
is just and is necessary.
Love is an abstraction, like intelligence, like happiness.
Every time our judgment is beclouded by the ardent passions that consume us,
we give love a dangerous concreteness, a scandalous concreteness,
an illegal concreteness.
In short, we are causing pain.
To ourselves, and to others.
Replace that concrete love with tenderness.
Or else, my beloved brothers, to my deep regret,
I shall be force to replace you.
God does not want that.
Only God knows hows right and necessary
it is for our Church to remain united.
Jesus explained to us what love is,
but we do not have his equilibrium, nor his wisdom,
but, we must try, my brothers, together.
I can be a father to you, but you must know
that fathers are to be obeyed even when they make mistakes.
My beloved cardinals, perhaps we cannot fully express our faith
but we can express our tenderness.
It is our hope and our ambition.
Where will you go ?
Don Mario is going to let us sleep in the sacristy for a few days.
After that, I have no idea.
Why can't we come stay with you ?
Because it would be an unbearable trauma for little Marcellino.
He still has not gotten over the loss of his mother....
Okay, I get it !
I might have a way of resolving things.
What are you saying ?
A while back, in my old parish in Santa Marinella,
I met a lady,
very distinguished, she is a lawyer.
Anyway, we became friends.
She is very wealthy, but she has a problem.
What sort of problem ?
Her son.
- He has serious physical deformities. - What sort of deformities ?
I really don't know exactly. He never takes him out in public.
She keeps him holed up in her villa, confined to a room.
Maybe she is ashamed of him.
Why are you telling me this ?
Because she has money.
And money is what you need.
And she is looking for a caregiver ? Okay, here I am.
No. No, Ester sorry, she is not looking for a caregiver.
No...
What she is looking for then ?
She would like to lavishly reward an act of generosity,
which a pretty girl could do for her poor son.
Her son is 20 and for obvious reasons he has never been with a woman.
I'm sorry Ester.
Let's forget about it and never mention it again, right ?
Sorry !
Go to sleep, my baby. Go to sleep !
What would I have to do, exactly ?
Would it be enough if I let him see me naked ?
No. He sees naked women all day long on the Internet.
No that wouldn't be enough.
How much would his mother willing to pay ?
I don't know.
15, maybe 20 000. She is very rich !
No, that would be prostitution. It's a sin.
No, it is not a sin. Because it is not prostitution.
- It is an act of Christian charity. - No, it's a sin !
Then his future is worth more than your sin.
Father, what do you think ?
I think you are a lucky woman, Ester.
This is the second miracle God has granted you.
- What's your name ? - Faisal.
You ?
Caterina.