1. Holy Father.Copy !req
2. You accorded an audience to the
head of the Vatican press office.Copy !req
3. She's outside waiting.Copy !req
4. Are you sure?Copy !req
5. Holy Father, the Italian prime ministerCopy !req
6. is continuing to postpone legislation
on taxing the Vatican and civil unions.Copy !req
7. His left-wing supporters
are calling for blood.Copy !req
8. Many of them claim
that you are behind thisCopy !req
9. that you are the man who
changed the prime minister's mind.Copy !req
10. And I think the same thing.Copy !req
11. That might be the case.Copy !req
12. How did you do it?
- I humiliated him.Copy !req
13. You have no idea how many
objectives can be obtainedCopy !req
14. by humiliating one's fellow man.Copy !req
15. But there's a secret to it.
- What is it?Copy !req
16. The person humiliated can't realize
they've been humiliated.Copy !req
17. If you don't mind my saying so,
you're diabolical.Copy !req
18. You think? People that know me well
actually say that I'm a saint.Copy !req
19. How did it go with the patriarch of Moscow?Copy !req
20. The patriarch of Moscow is more boring
than watching golf on television.Copy !req
21. So what is our next set of decisions?Copy !req
22. Do you remember that on
Wednesday you promisedCopy !req
23. to act as a tour guide in the Vatican
museums for a third-grade field trip?Copy !req
24. God Almighty, what atrocity can I
have committed to deserve that?Copy !req
25. I don't know if I'll able
to make that appointment.Copy !req
26. On Wednesday
I have to watch golf on TV.Copy !req
27. Holy Father, you don't want to
disappoint the children, do you?Copy !req
28. Ma'am, it's the children
who have disappointed me.Copy !req
29. Didn't you like your childhood?Copy !req
30. All I remember of my childhood is it
one day wasn't there anymore.Copy !req
31. Clothes pin.Copy !req
32. Have we found any confirmation
of David Tanistone's statements?Copy !req
33. I would say so.Copy !req
34. His mother had a brief affair
with Archbishop KurtwellCopy !req
35. when they were both attending
Catholic University in Washington, D.C.Copy !req
36. Then they drifted apart.Copy !req
37. She, like the devout Catholic that she is,
decided to give birth to her son.Copy !req
38. After a few yearsCopy !req
39. and oppressed by the grim economic
straits into which she had driftedCopy !req
40. she decided to turn
to Kurtwell for help.Copy !req
41. Which is how Kurtwell
came to know him.Copy !req
42. But in the meanwhileCopy !req
43. a veritable earthquake had
devastated that man's personalityCopy !req
44. and the rubble from it collapsed
directly onto that young man.Copy !req
45. For the rest of the story,
we'll have to ask Kurtwell.Copy !req
46. I intend to shake things up a little.Copy !req
47. I would like to have you
become my personal secretary.Copy !req
48. Sister Mary has completed her missionCopy !req
49. and now, justifiably,
she wants to move on.Copy !req
50. She's completed her mission?
- Yes.Copy !req
51. The child Pope has become a man.Copy !req
52. He once needed a motherly presence,
and now he needs a colleague.Copy !req
53. What do you think of my proposal?Copy !req
54. That I can't accept.Copy !req
55. Why not?Copy !req
56. Because it would be hypocritical.Copy !req
57. What's hypocritical about it?Copy !req
58. I'm a hom...Copy !req
59. I'm a homosexual, Holy Father.Copy !req
60. And you want to expel all
homosexuals from the church.Copy !req
61. Every rule has its exceptions.Copy !req
62. But I don't subscribe to
the exception that you'd make for me.Copy !req
63. I don't subscribe to the rule.Copy !req
64. It's a huge mistake
not to accept homosexuals.Copy !req
65. It's a huge mistake to compare them
with pedophiles, the way you do.Copy !req
66. An unacceptable generalization.Copy !req
67. How can you fail to see,
you of all people, Holy Father...Copy !req
68. you, the author of those
heart-breaking love lettersCopy !req
69. that in pedophilia
there is only violenceCopy !req
70. and in homosexuality
there is only love?Copy !req
71. You say you don't want
to be my personal secretaryCopy !req
72. but, in actual fact,
you're already doing the job.Copy !req
73. You offer me some advice.
That's what a personal secretary does.Copy !req
74. But in this case, I don't just
want to give the advice.Copy !req
75. I want you to accept it.Copy !req
76. How many things I accept, Gutierrez,
and no one notices!Copy !req
77. That's a Pope's fate.
That's the fate of power.Copy !req
78. Try to reason with me:Copy !req
79. if I ask you to be
my personal secretaryCopy !req
80. am I not already revising
my own beliefs about homosexuality?Copy !req
81. Or do you actually believe I knew
nothing about your homosexuality?Copy !req
82. Or the fact that you were
sexually abused as a child?Copy !req
83. I knew that, too. That's why
I sent you to Kurtwell.Copy !req
84. That's why I now want you
working by my side.Copy !req
85. Because we need
to work on the future.Copy !req
86. You need the right motivations
to do that, and you have those.Copy !req
87. The right motivations
can move the world.Copy !req
88. You've changed, since you
came back from your trip.Copy !req
89. In what way have I changed?Copy !req
90. You've transformed fear into anger.Copy !req
91. Very good, Gutierrez.Copy !req
92. Very good.Copy !req
93. I beg of youCopy !req
94. confide in me the wisest thing
you have ever learned.Copy !req
95. In the end, more than in GodCopy !req
96. it is necessary to
believe in yourself, Lenny.Copy !req
97. Oh...Copy !req
98. Have you got something...Copy !req
99. a little better?Copy !req
100. That's a banal platitude.Copy !req
101. If only you knew how true a banal
platitude can be, my dear colleague.Copy !req
102. After all, look at us, we are power.Copy !req
103. And power is a banal platitude.Copy !req
104. We will be dealing
with you one day, Your Holiness.Copy !req
105. What do you mean?Copy !req
106. You are going to be a saint.
I'm perfectly serious.Copy !req
107. I don't need any more
steps in my career.Copy !req
108. Your prayers, Holy Father,
your prayers move God.Copy !req
109. Oh? When?Copy !req
110. Let's stick to the factsCopy !req
111. and skip the memorable account
of what you did at age fourteenCopy !req
112. in the room of the gravely sick wife of
the custodian who was suddenly cured.Copy !req
113. Now then, here are the simple facts.Copy !req
114. Esther and Peter were
infertile, sterile, barren.Copy !req
115. The young woman confided in you.
And you, Holy FatherCopy !req
116. you didn't tell her to do what anyone else
would have said: go see a doctor.Copy !req
117. No, instead Your Holiness prayed.Copy !req
118. And Esther became pregnant
and she gave birth a beautiful child.Copy !req
119. Moreover, it became clear
that Sister AntoniaCopy !req
120. was actually an unworthy
woman, an evildoer.Copy !req
121. You had the power to remove
her from her position.Copy !req
122. You had the power to punish her.Copy !req
123. All you had to do was
to sign a documentCopy !req
124. but instead, you chose not to do that.Copy !req
125. Instead you chose to prayCopy !req
126. in the rain, kneeling on the asphalt,
at a rest stop on the highwayCopy !req
127. and at that moment Sister Antonia
shuffled off the stageCopy !req
128. thanks to a divine punishment.Copy !req
129. Now, these are the things
that saints do.Copy !req
130. They are moved by a faith so solidCopy !req
131. that they believe in God,
in the power of GodCopy !req
132. before they believe in
the power of human beings.Copy !req
133. As you see, Holy Father,
miracles are more likely to happen.Copy !req
134. We only need to keep our ears open.Copy !req
135. Are your ears always open
for the Blessed Juana?Copy !req
136. Always.Copy !req
137. When she was fifteen she went
to see the children at the hospitalCopy !req
138. and always brought tangerines with her.Copy !req
139. And she didn't care
whether they ate them or not.Copy !req
140. But she wanted them to peel them
and to play at squeezing the peelsCopy !req
141. and spray each other with the bright
and unforgettable scent of the fruit.Copy !req
142. Then she told the children:Copy !req
143. I will go away from you
and you will go away from meCopy !req
144. but it doesn't matterCopy !req
145. because all that will be left on this
earth is the scent of goodness.Copy !req
146. I could listen for hours.Copy !req
147. This story tells us
something important.Copy !req
148. What?Copy !req
149. That goodness, unless
combined with imaginationCopy !req
150. runs the risk of being
mere exhibitionism.Copy !req
151. Hmm. How true.Copy !req
152. How true.Copy !req
153. If you want to know everything
about the Blessed JuanaCopy !req
154. there's a wonderful opportunity
that we can take advantage of.Copy !req
155. You see, every Christmas,
the miracle childrenCopy !req
156. who are now in their fifties,
gather at a plaza in Guatemala CityCopy !req
157. and tell the story
of their miracle cures.Copy !req
158. I've attended and it was a very moving
and unforgettable experience.Copy !req
159. I mean, everyone would be
overjoyed to have you there.Copy !req
160. Are you suggesting
I spend my Christmas in Guatemala?Copy !req
161. Yes. It would be a memorable gesture.Copy !req
162. All right, then,
we'll go to Guatemala.Copy !req
163. On the understanding that it will be
a small and private get-togetherCopy !req
164. without crowds and without press.Copy !req
165. Just us and the miracle children.Copy !req
166. It will all be exactly as you wish.Copy !req
167. All right, children, today we are going
on tour of the Vatican MuseumsCopy !req
168. and I am gonna be your tour guide.Copy !req
169. Oh.Copy !req
170. Earlier it was snowing
and now it's raining.Copy !req
171. Too bad.Copy !req
172. Snow is so much nicer
than rain, isn't it?Copy !req
173. Yes!Copy !req
174. But if it's rainingCopy !req
175. that can only mean
you've been bad children.Copy !req
176. Why?Copy !req
177. Because raindrops
are the tears of Christ.Copy !req
178. And if Jesus is crying, that can
only mean you've made him angry.Copy !req
179. What?Copy !req
180. Hey, I was just kidding.Copy !req
181. Have a sense of humor,
for Pete's sake!Copy !req
182. All right, children, here's what we'll do.Copy !req
183. Right now we're all going to eat
hamburgers and french friesCopy !req
184. and after lunch we'll continue
our tour of the museums.Copy !req
185. Follow me!Copy !req
186. Aren't you going to eat
hamburgers and french fries?Copy !req
187. My mommy wants me to stick
to the Mediterranean diet.Copy !req
188. I understand.Copy !req
189. I don't want a mommy with a beard.Copy !req
190. You need to learn
to settle for what you get.Copy !req
191. I don't want to settle.Copy !req
192. You're right.Copy !req
193. I don't want to settle
anymore, either.Copy !req
194. What happened
to your hands, Your Eminence?Copy !req
195. Oh, Holy Father, the cold in Alaska,
when I say Mass in the open air.Copy !req
196. Haven't you tried using skin creams?Copy !req
197. I'm allergic.
And then there is the rheumatism.Copy !req
198. These look like the hands
of Christ on the cross.Copy !req
199. God bless you, Holy Father.Copy !req
200. I can't even hold a glass any more.Copy !req
201. That man's name was Jack Walser.Copy !req
202. He was the superintendent of
the building where we livedCopy !req
203. before the Lord called me to Him.Copy !req
204. He had divided the tenants
into two categoriesCopy !req
205. the natives and the nomads.Copy !req
206. My family belonged to the
category of the nomadsCopy !req
207. because we didn't have enough money
to ensure the stability enjoyed by the natives.Copy !req
208. One day, Jack rang our door bell
at ten in the morningCopy !req
209. confident that I would be at school.Copy !req
210. But that day I was still
at home in bed with a fever.Copy !req
211. The door to my room was openCopy !req
212. and he stretched out
on the little sofaCopy !req
213. where my father sat
when he listened to the radio.Copy !req
214. He drenched it with his wet clothes.Copy !req
215. And he... he told me that the party
was over for us nomadsCopy !req
216. that the owners had
decided to double the rent.Copy !req
217. And he said it as if he had something good,
something fragrant in his mouth.Copy !req
218. And then he gestured
for me to come closerCopy !req
219. and he said to me, in a tone of voice
I'd never heard in my life, he said:Copy !req
220. "On your knees."Copy !req
221. At lastCopy !req
222. he said the most vulgar phrase
I've ever heard in my life.Copy !req
223. He said: "There are only two reasons a
human being would get down on his knees.Copy !req
224. And one is to pray,
and the other is to know himself."Copy !req
225. I was only twelve years old,
Holy Father.Copy !req
226. I was twelve years old!Copy !req
227. You need to continue, Archbishop.Copy !req
228. Your story isn't finished yet.Copy !req
229. What else do you want to know?Copy !req
230. What happened afterward?Copy !req
231. Oh, you want to know whether or not I,
as an adult, became like Jack Walser.Copy !req
232. Certainly, that's all you care about.Copy !req
233. What do you care about a
twelve-year-old boy on his kneesCopy !req
234. in front of a man with wet clothing
on a chilly day in February in 1955!Copy !req
235. We care, Archbishop,
about all children.Copy !req
236. All of them.Copy !req
237. Fine.Copy !req
238. Let's get on with it.Copy !req
239. Yes, Holy Father.Copy !req
240. For the rest of my life
I have behaved like Jack Walser.Copy !req
241. Can that be enough?Copy !req
242. Come here, Archbishop.Copy !req
243. I've made my decision. I'm sending
you back to the United States.Copy !req
244. Where do you want to go?Copy !req
245. To New York. I want to go home.Copy !req
246. Fine.Copy !req
247. Holy Father, infinite
is your compassion.Copy !req
248. Infinite is your capacity
for forgiveness.Copy !req
249. I have one simple request.Copy !req
250. Anything, Your Holiness.Copy !req
251. I wanna make sure
you really do wanna go home.Copy !req
252. So I want you to plant your finger
on New York on the globe.Copy !req
253. Ketchikan, Alaska.Copy !req
254. I know the place.Copy !req
255. Very nice.Copy !req
256. A small town of 8,000 inhabitants
that's so cold that it'll split your fingers.Copy !req
257. But in the words of the
Nobel laureate Brodsky:Copy !req
258. "Beauty at low temperatures is beauty."Copy !req
259. Archbishop Kurtwell,
your disease has deceived you.Copy !req
260. There's a rumor going around
that I'm about to leave the Vatican.Copy !req
261. You have to admit the rumors
that circulate in the VaticanCopy !req
262. almost always correspond to the truth.Copy !req
263. Where will I go?Copy !req
264. Where you've always wanted to be.Copy !req
265. With children.Copy !req
266. You're an orphan.Copy !req
267. Orphans want to stay
with children forever.Copy !req
268. How do you know I'm an orphan?Copy !req
269. I've always known.Copy !req
270. How do you know?Copy !req
271. It's difficult...Copy !req
272. for a saint, to answer
all the questions of humanity.Copy !req
273. Can I start calling you Lenny again?Copy !req
274. Only if I can call you Ma.Copy !req
275. Yes, you can call me Ma.Copy !req
276. But where will I go?Copy !req
277. To Africa, to take
Sister Antonia's place.Copy !req
278. And there you will be in charge of
all 250 Villages of Goodness.Copy !req
279. I'd like to open new ones
just for the children.Copy !req
280. What do you think?Copy !req
281. I think it's a good idea.Copy !req
282. In the end, we all have
to go back to where we began.Copy !req
283. And you, when will you go back
to where you began?Copy !req
284. Where did I begin?Copy !req
285. You began with two hippie parents.Copy !req
286. I've stopped searching for my parents.Copy !req
287. I've stopped searching for God.
- Never say that again.Copy !req
288. The truth is you've never searched.Copy !req
289. You've been hiding yourself.Copy !req
290. When do you want me to leave?Copy !req
291. Tomorrow morning.Copy !req
292. Before you go, if you likeCopy !req
293. you can say goodbye to
the Cardinal Secretary of State.Copy !req
294. So long, saint.Copy !req
295. So long, Ma.Copy !req
296. Your Holiness, don't you feel well?Copy !req
297. No, no. It's just a passing discomfort.Copy !req
298. Should I call the doctor?
- No, no, no, it's not serious. It's over.Copy !req
299. Are you certain you don't
want me to call the doctor?Copy !req
300. All better now.Copy !req
301. Do you believe in God?Copy !req
302. I...Copy !req
303. Yes, I do.Copy !req
304. I don't.Copy !req
305. Those who believe in God
don't believe in anything.Copy !req
306. You know, you were right.Copy !req
307. When an orphan matures, he may
discover a fresh youth within.Copy !req
308. And at that point,
he will have something to say.Copy !req
309. You have something to say.Copy !req
310. I know it, I feel it,
and you will say it.Copy !req
311. Your Holiness, you will say it...
you'll say it...Copy !req
312. You will say it.Copy !req
313. You'll say it. You'll say it.Copy !req
314. You'll say it. You'll say it.Copy !req
315. You'll say it. You'll say it.Copy !req
316. You'll say it. You'll say it. You'll say it.Copy !req
317. You have a very tight family,
Eminence. Very affectionate.Copy !req
318. It's been a lovely Christmas Eve.Copy !req
319. May I be indiscreet, Your Holiness?Copy !req
320. And say something that
concerns you personally?Copy !req
321. You may.Copy !req
322. Your parents abandoned you
when you were a child.Copy !req
323. Nothing so strange about that.Copy !req
324. One might feel constrained to abandon
a child for all sorts of reasons.Copy !req
325. There is no evidence
to suggest they are dead.Copy !req
326. You've become one of the most
famous people on the planetCopy !req
327. but they do not get in touch with you.Copy !req
328. "Why?" I ask myself.Copy !req
329. A guilty conscience, perhaps?Copy !req
330. But the prospect of a reconciliation should be
more powerful than any sense of guilt.Copy !req
331. So what explanation
did you come up with, then?Copy !req
332. A very simple one.Copy !req
333. They were hippies.Copy !req
334. Presumably they hold the same libertarian
and progressive opinions todayCopy !req
335. as they had then.Copy !req
336. And you become
the worldwide championCopy !req
337. of ideas that run
completely counter to theirs.Copy !req
338. So you're saying the reason
they didn't reach out to meCopy !req
339. is a difference in political opinion?Copy !req
340. I'm saying that whoever had
the courage to abandon a childCopy !req
341. might also find the strength
to repudiate him.Copy !req
342. Holy Father, the plane is on
the tarmac, waiting for us.Copy !req
343. Whenever you like, it's all ready.Copy !req
344. We aren't going to Guatemala after all.Copy !req
345. The miracle people of the Blessed Juana
will be so disappointed.Copy !req
346. Yes, they will.
But in time they'll understand.Copy !req
347. All I ever wanted when I was
a child was to be a cardinal.Copy !req
348. What about you, Holy Father?Copy !req
349. What did you want to be
when you were a child?Copy !req
350. I wanted to be a child.Copy !req
351. And now where is God?Copy !req
352. In Venice.Copy !req
353. In Venice?
And where does he live there?Copy !req
354. That's something I have to find out.Copy !req
355. Holy Father,
I got you something stupid.Copy !req
356. It has no real worth,
but I saw it and I thought of you.Copy !req
357. It says here you can see
for more than 100 metres.Copy !req
358. Holy Father...Copy !req
359. the manager of the restaurant
and all the staffCopy !req
360. wonder if you'd be willing
to give a benediction.Copy !req
361. They're all behind you waiting.Copy !req
362. If you were to turn
around, for them...Copy !req
363. it would be something
of a minor miracle.Copy !req
364. No.Copy !req
365. That would be an exhibition.Copy !req
366. When they asked her:Copy !req
367. "Who is God?"Copy !req
368. "God is a line that opens,"
replied the Blessed Juana.Copy !req
369. She was just fourteen years oldCopy !req
370. and no one understood
what it was she was trying to say.Copy !req
371. And then, all the children asked
the dying Blessed JuanaCopy !req
372. dozens of questions.Copy !req
373. "Are we dead or are we alive?Copy !req
374. Are we tired or are we vigorous?Copy !req
375. Are we healthy or are we sick?Copy !req
376. Are we good or are we bad?Copy !req
377. Do we still have time
or has it run out?Copy !req
378. Are we young or are we old?Copy !req
379. Are we clean or are we dirty?Copy !req
380. Are we fools or are we smart?Copy !req
381. Are we true or are we false?Copy !req
382. Are we rich or are we poor?Copy !req
383. Are we kings or are we servants?Copy !req
384. Are we good or are we beautiful?Copy !req
385. Are we warm or are we cold?Copy !req
386. Are we happy or are we blind?Copy !req
387. Are we disappointed or are we joyful?Copy !req
388. Are we lost or are we found?Copy !req
389. Are we men or are we women?"Copy !req
390. "It doesn't matter."
replied the Blessed JuanaCopy !req
391. as she lay dying
at the age of just eighteen.Copy !req
392. And she addedCopy !req
393. on the verge of deathCopy !req
394. with tears in her eyes:Copy !req
395. "God does not allow Himself to be seen.Copy !req
396. God does not shout.Copy !req
397. God does not whisper.Copy !req
398. God does not write.Copy !req
399. God does not hear.Copy !req
400. God does not chat.Copy !req
401. God does not comfort us."Copy !req
402. And all the children asked her:Copy !req
403. "Who is God?"Copy !req
404. And Juana replied:Copy !req
405. "God smiles."Copy !req
406. And only then did everyone understand.Copy !req
407. And now, I beg all of you, smile.Copy !req
408. Smile.Copy !req
409. Smile.Copy !req
410. That's right. Smile.Copy !req
411. It's nothing, it's nothing!Copy !req
412. One day I will dieCopy !req
413. and I will finally be able to
embrace you all.Copy !req
414. One by one.Copy !req
415. Yes.Copy !req
416. I will.Copy !req
417. I have faith that I will.Copy !req
418. Call the doctor.Copy !req