What <em>The Young Pope</em> Preached About Love
The first season of HBO’s Vatican dramedy portrayed a journey from amplifying suffering to easing it.
In the final moments of The Young Pope’s first season, the elusive Pope Pius XIII finally showed his face to the world for a sermon in Venice that addressed one question: “Who is God?”
This is a central question of religion, but it is not the central question of . Over 10 episodes, Paolo Sorrentino’s daring and hypnotic HBO series instead asked: Who are people? Why is anyone the way they are? Or more specifically in this show, and perhaps more urgently in this era: What drives someone who acts erratically and cruelly in a position of power? Why would someone use their charisma and influence to exclude and degrade?
