Act II, Scene 1

1970. Stage dark. Light up. Corso alone is in the room. Orsini arrives through the door at stage right.

CORSO

Good morning, Silvano.

ORSINI

Good morning. How are things back in America – your parents? Your brother and his family? CORSO

Everyone’s fine, thanks. It was good to see them. (He laughs, shaking his head.) You know, after all these years, my father’s still not reconciled to my being a priest. To the old contadini, a son going for the priesthood was a son stolen by “The Black Vultures.” My not being able to tell him exactly what I’ve been doing here in Rome these five years doesn’t help.

ORSINI

(laughs. Jokingly) That infamous Vatican secrecy! (Corso smiles.) Speaking of which, why have you called a meeting today? We have no witnesses scheduled until next week.

CORSO

A surprise.

ORSINI

(curious and cautious) What type of surprise?

CORSO

An unusual witness. (Glancing at his wristwatch.) Should be here any minute.

ORSINI

(gently admonishing) Joseph, Joseph, you should have given me time to prepare some knowledge of this person.

CORSO

Oh, you have, I’d bet my life on it. How was your summer?

ORSINI

Hot, as only Rome can be. Thank God for American air-conditioning. Before it ... (He makes an Italian gesture signifying “excessive.”)

CORSO

New York’s no better. But I’m sorry to have to miss another autumn there. It’s all that ... (He is interrupted by a knock at the door.)

CORSO

(looking at his wristwatch) Right on time. I knew he’d be.

(Corso goes to the door and opens it. In steps Pope Paul VI, dressed in papal vestments. Corso drops to one knee and kisses Paul’s ring. Paul raises Corso to his feet.)

CORSO

Holiness, I’m Father Joseph Corso. (Gesturing toward Orsini.) You know Father Silvano Orsini.

(An astonished Orsini recovers himself enough to move quickly to Paul, drops to one knee, and kisses his ring. Paul raises Orsini to his feet.)

PAUL

Father Corso, Father Orsini. Come, let us be as informal as possible. Where are We to sit? (Corso leads Paul by gestures to the witnesses’ chair. Paul sits down and gestures to the two priests to be seated, and the two priests sit down.)

CORSO

(to Paul, while reaching for the switch on the tape recorder) Permesso? (Paul nods, and Corso turns on the tape recorder.)

PAUL

Let Us be clear, Our sons. We have accepted Father Corso’s invitation only to help orient both of you in the mission you are pursuing, but not to perform that mission for you. We will not this morning decide the merits of the beatification of Pope Pius XII. Making a recommendation about that is your privilege – and your burden. Instead, We’ve come to clarify the question in the context of the Church today, as Father Corso requested. What is said here, is, of course, in strictest confidence – on your vows of obedience. (Pause. Paul looks to each priest, and Corso and Orsini in turns nod assent.) Good! Both of you are free to be as open and direct as possible. In fact, We command it. Let us begin, then. Father Corso?

CORSO

Thank you, Holy Father. I’ll come to the point, as you command. It seems to me, Holiness, that the matter of Pius is enmeshed in another question. I refer, of course, to the struggle for what the Church will be in the future. The old Church, or a new Church being born. The Church of Pope Pius XII verses the Church of Vatican II.

PAUL

You’ve hit the mark regarding the context, Father Corso. Not regarding the merits of Pius’ case, mind you! But your summation of the ocean in which we swim is a reasonable one. In fact, it is the ocean in which Our own pontificate swims. And that is why We’ve consented to testify here today. Father Corso, although We doubt it was your intention, you have provided Us with an opportunity to give an apologia of Our pontificate, for future generations.

CORSO

Holy Father ... I am astonished ... I would never have presumed ... Forgive me!

PAUL

On the contrary, Father. For some time We’ve believed that God wants Us to explain Our pontificate for the historical record. We have been expecting a venue for it. When We received your invitation, We immediately recognized it as such. It’s time to speak.

ORSINI

(fearing Corso has overstepped in calling Paul as a witness) Holiness ... I ... we ...

PAUL

No, Our son, We know We are called “Hamlet.” We would have complete candor here. Indulge Us in this. Its relevance to your work will become evident. From this point on, We will use the first person “I,” instead of the papal “We,” so that whoever listens to this tape in the future knows I am speaking not as Paul VI but as Giovanni Montini. (Pause.) I came to know Cardinal Pacelli, who was then Vatican Secretary of State, in 1937, when I was named his assistant. I served him after he became pope, and he rewarded me by offering me a cardinal’s hat in 1952. Which I declined. Shortly after, he sent me away from the Vatican to Milan.

CORSO

Forgive me, but some say it was because he demanded loyalty and obedience beyond all duty or reason. Was that so?

PAUL

I truly don’t know. I was brought back by Pope John XXIII. When he prevailed upon me to be a cardinal, I finally accepted. (Smiling gently.) So, you see, my record as a “reluctant dragon” long preceded my pontificate.

CORSO

But in all the years then between 1937 and 1954, didn’t you come to know Eugenio Pacelli well? You worked with him more closely than anyone else, and longer too.

PAUL

I knew him in so far as anyone knew him. He was kind toward me, but not forthcoming. Never forthcoming. People assumed we were intimes. But it wasn’t so. I never knew a more self-contained man. More so than either of you probably can imagine. His only confidant, his only intime, was God. On this rests the belief in many, including me – the powerful belief – that he was an extraordinarily spiritual man. And here we come to the heart of your investigation. The nature of Pius’ pontificate and the nature of his character were one. Understand me, his character did not shape his pontificate, nor vice versa. They were one, completely and seamlessly one.

CORSO

(nodding) A pontificate in the mode of Vatican One, a hundred years ago.

PAUL

(shaking his head) Far more so. During the First Vatican Council, the argument was between those who asserted that a pope’s authority was to be assisted by – the exact words were – “the counsel of the bishops manifesting the tradition of the churches.” The pope then, Pius IX, became enraged and shouted “I am the tradition!”

CORSO

But Vatican I did not endorse the idea that a pope should act by himself. And this is what Pius the Twelfth did.

PAUL

Yes, he did.

ORSINI

Pardon me, Holiness, but wasn’t Pius compelled to act alone by the circumstances of the time? His bishops were scattered on both sides of alliances that were mortal enemies – first the Allies versus the Axis, then during the Cold War, the Western Powers versus those Catholic nations under Communist governments. Pius had to act alone, and so spared the Church the torment of these conflicts. They might have torn the Church apart, and left it vulnerable to its destruction by hostile powers!

PAUL

That may be so. An argument may be made for it.

CORSO

Holiness, there is a long tradition of popes who have upheld the moral mission of the Church in the teeth of forces that could have crushed it. Starting with Leo the Great who faced down both Attila’s Huns and the Vandals in the fifth century. And, shame to say it, there were a few popes who collaborated when threatened with evil. Starting with Pope Marcellinus the Traitor, who collaborated with the persecutor, Emperor Diocletian, in the third century, even to worshipping pagan gods. Holiness, in which tradition does Pius fall?

ORSINI

(quickly interrupting) In the tradition of Leo the Great! Hitler was his Attila, and the Communists his Vandals.

CORSO

No! He played Marcellinus to the Nazis in order to play Leo to the Communists!

PAUL

(admonishing, calm but firm) My sons, all my life I’ve been convinced that polemics do not lead to truth!

ORSINI

I ask your pardon, Holiness.

CORSO

I too.

PAUL

The Church in the twentieth century has followed a policy of neutrality in disputes and wars between states. And given some of the Church’s political history when the popes were rulers of an earthly kingdom, it was a wise decision. Pius stood upon that position in World War II. In view of the evil of Nazism, that judgement is now widely called immoral. John XXIII opened new possibilities, perhaps, in the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The Council wrote that the Church should not just denounce the modern world and be concerned exclusively with the spiritual world, but should be involved in the world. I remind you of the Council’s words: The Church is to “discern the signs of the times,” and it is to be “in the events, needs and longings it shares with the other people of our time,” and to find “what may be genuine signs of the presence or the purpose of God.”

ORSINI

But in doing so, the danger that Pius feared looms large. The Church may suffer terribly. It may finish by casting aside its precious heritage and authority!

PAUL

That may be true. So my sons, we are navigating in a new sea. I believe the Church as a whole, the entire Mystical Body of Christ, must find its course through the collective conscience of all the People of God – in dialogue with God – over time. My pontificate is dedicated to keeping open the dialogue with God, and the respect for conscience upon which this new enterprise depends. It is a necessary solitude, and I embrace it. But I differ from Pius. My solitude is a solitude of service, not power. And thus I tell you now that no matter how long my pontificate should last, I will never issue another encyclical. So I will go down in history as “Pope Hamlet.” No matter. I am full of consolation and joy. I’ve left instruction that when I die, I will be placed, unembalmed, in a plain pine coffin – like the great tradition of the Jews. The coffin is to rest on ground level, and nothing is to be on it or near it, save a bible. Which brings me, my sons, to your service. It must be to help shape the mystical process in which the Church is renewing itself, while it preserves what it truly precious in its tradition. By your investigation of Pope Pius. A mission, like mine, likely to bring you isolation, but not love, my sons, not love.

CORSO

May I, Holiness? (Paul nods.) Holiness, there is no other way to ask it! Was Pius an anti-Semite?

PAUL

(pause) In my opinion, no.

CORSO

Was he a misanthrope who cared not for humanity, and so not for the Jews?

PAUL

I began by saying it is your mission to make such judgements. I’ve put your task in context – that is all that is proper for me to do. (Paul rises, and the two priests quickly get to their feet. During the rest of this scene, the three men remain standing. Paul reverts to the papal “We.”) There is one more thing. You should know that We personally chose each of you for this mission. We observed both of you during Vatican II, on opposite sides as you were. We are convinced that We chose wisely. But the mission set you, as We said, is a lonely one. So We give you permission to leave the investigation of Pius XII, without prejudice against you, if you so choose. But We hope you will both continue. Father Orsini?

ORSINI

I accept the mission, Holy Father.

PAUL

Father Corso?

CORSO

(pause, while he considers it) I too accept – on one condition.

PAUL

What is that?

CORSO

(smiling) That this room receives a fresh coat of paint.

PAUL

(laughs) So be it! Father Orsini, see to it. (Paul moves toward Corso and Orsini and they each, in turn, drop to one knee and kiss his ring. The two priests then escort Paul to the door at stage right, and Paul exits through it. Light fades to black.)