Pope Julius III had been seriously ill for most of the past ten years, with each week bringing yet another rumour of his impending death, yet each week he managed to find the strength to perform Sunday morning mass with exuberance and zeal. His staff would argue incessantly that he should take a few weeks off, and regain his strength but Pope Julius III would hear none of it. The people needed to see him each Sunday – to know that there was something they could rely on in a world of unpredictability. As long as God needed him here he would perform his duties; his body being a mere conduit for a greater cause. No, he would not allow himself to succumb to the pain of illness just as he would not allow himself to be derailed in his attempt to fix the ills that lie smouldering within the deepest confines of the Church.

During his twenty-five years as head of the Catholic Church, Pope Julius III had completely modernized the church's views on many aspects of faith. He preached kindness and tolerance towards all peace-loving peoples regardless of the religions they practiced. A kind and peace-loving person will eventually find the pathway to God, he argued to those who held opposite views.

Each soul is of equal value to its creator regardless of the religion they were born into. We must act as facilitators of goodness and not shun people aside because they don't do as we say. Jesus held the belief that everyone could change, he damned no one. So what right do we have to act as Jesus never did? He died for all of us, not just his disciples. We all need to remember that the next time one of us decides to hold our necks out high in righteous ignorance.

We have slaughtered millions in the name of Jesus yet he slaughtered none. We have condemned millions to a life of insignificance yet he condemned none. We must learn from our past, and learn to accept those that hold similar values to ourselves without feeling the need to proselytize them for that only promotes hatred.

Pope Julius III went so far as to reach out to all Christians including Mormons and Lutherans who each had views that drastically contradicted those long held by the Catholic Church. Mormons believed in a new gospel that placed Jesus in the United States during the Colonial era. They also have different views on the qualities of God but they are nevertheless good people who promote proper Christian family values. Pope Julius III ended a longstanding debate once and for all by declaring publically that there was no need for a rebaptism for Mormons who wanted to rejoin the Catholic fold.

As for the Lutherans, they steadfastly deny the need for a Pope to lead the people and yet Pope Julius III reached out to them as well inviting a few of their top theologians to have discussions on religious matters. A Lutheran council, so moved by this Pope, went on to state that their long held view by a few of their own radicals that the Pope is the antichrist has been misinterpreted throughout history and that they welcome this new exchange of ideas.

And yet beyond all of these heresies, the Pope's most controversial philosophies had to do with his campaign to abolish ultra-conservatism within all religions, meaning those people who felt that the ends always justified the means. He felt that radical conservatives had been the root of most of the religious wars for the past two thousand years. "All of the goals of Christianity do not have to be reached at once," the Pope had said during a meeting with some of the more important Cardinals. "We have time on our side. Show the Church as a safe place. Preach love and inner prosperity and people will seek out the Church instead of the Church having to seek out the people."

Archbishop Galliano was vehemently opposed to most, if not all of these radical views, and he was not afraid to express it. For the Archbishop, the Pope's views meant that far too many souls would not be reached and hence not saved. Active Catholicism and proselytizing were needed to prevent people from the fate of eternal damnation. We either believe the scriptures or we don't. We either choose to save every soul in need, whether or not they seek help, or stand by helplessly on the sidelines and watch as the gates of hell overflow from those we never touched.

During the past ten years, while Pope Julius III had been ill, Archbishop Galliano had gained many important allies who felt that the Pope's views only diminished the Church's power. The Pope might despise these radicals within the Church, as he calls them, but these radicals keep the Church alive. We must remain at the forefront of people's thoughts or risk becoming irrelevant. This was Archbishop Galliano's view. His popularity with the other Cardinals made him the front-runner to be the next Pope. This meant that he yielded great power and influence worldwide.

Archbishop Galliano put down the phone and then pressed his hands, palms down, on his desk as he let out an apprehensive sigh. Something about the man's tone on the other end of the phone struck him as odd. He seemed nervous. "We have been monitoring them from the first moment," the man said. "From this point forward it's my concern, not yours."

"I have to be concerned," explained the Archbishop.

"Of course you do. Just be concerned from a distance."

"I greatly dislike relying on other people to do what we should be doing ourselves, but circumstances unfortunately leave us with no other choice. If this is what I suspect it to be, then all of us share the same concerns."

A knock on the Archbishop's door startled him, completely derailing his train of thought. "Who is it?" asked the Archbishop.

"It is I, Philippe."

"Come in," said the Archbishop, annoyed at the unwanted intrusion.
Philippe entered the Archbishop's study, smiling from ear to ear. "Isn't this wonderful," he said, "that we should be experiencing these events in our generation?"

"You should curb your enthusiasm, Philippe. We still are not certain what we are dealing with," replied the Archbishop. "To borrow a line from my accountant, you need all of the numbers before you can compute the equation."

"But sometimes the missing numbers can be inferred from the other data," argued Philippe.

"That's true when you have enough information, which we do not."

"What more is there to know? He has already performed two miracles in one day?"

"Haven't you heard anything I've been saying?" The Archbishop reached behind and pulled a book out from his library. "Philippe, my friend, don't be so naive. The church has been tricked before. Scams can be very elaborate. Have you ever heard of Sabbatai Tzvi?" asked the Archbishop.

"No," replied Philippe, as he patiently waited for what he knew would be a long and most probably pointless discourse on some irrelevant subject.

"Then I'll tell you about him," began the Archbishop. "In the years prior to 1666, the entire planet was in a Messianic frenzy. Christians had identified the apocalyptic year to be 1666. Even Cromwell himself announced to the English parliament that everyone had to be kind to the Jews because the Messiah was coming. With that magical year drawing nearer, a religious fanatic, Sabbatai Tzvi conned the entire world into believing he was the Messiah. Of course, he was proven to be a fraud, but not until the entire planet had been drawn into his mystique."

"That is unbelievable," Philippe replied reluctantly.

"Even after he was proven to be a fraud, Sabbatai Tzvi still had followers. They became known as the Donmeh, Muslims who also practiced Jewish traditions. To this very day, a few thousand of them still exist in Turkey. Do you now understand how dangerous this situation can become?"

"I am beginning to," Philippe reluctantly replied.

"There have been more," continued the Archbishop. "Every religious group on earth has had people who they believed was the Messiah; Sun Myung Moon, Ayatolla Komehini, Georges Ernest Roux, and these are just a few from the past 100 years."

"I never realized there were so many," replied Philippe, finding himself surprisingly impressed by the Archbishops' historical knowledge.

"God gave us the biblical prophecies to protect us from false claims," continued the Archbishop. "Remember what Jesus told us in the book of Mark; Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, I am he,' and will deceive many." The Archbishop put the book down and then placed his hand on top of the New Testaments sitting on his desk. "Revelations tells us when he is coming, not Action News on channel 4."

"But we know that those statements and prophecies were written well after Jesus' death. Many scholars have always suspected they may be wrong. The Church even argued whether or not to put the book of Revelations in the bible." Philippe pleaded his point of view, hoping that just this once the Archbishop might allow for a dissenting opinion.

"Pope Julius is infecting everyone with his liberal talk, but you, Philippe?" The Archbishop raised his voice in anger. "You have more faith than most and yet you question the validity of the scriptures? This is what happens when you change what's been accepted for centuries, everything becomes open for debate."

"I do not question the validity of the original scriptures, only their interpretation," replied Philippe as he sheepishly lowered his head.

The Archbishop stood up in anger. "Faith does allow us to choose what we wish to believe," he said as if he was giving a Sunday morning sermon. "We must follow blindly, that is our test. That is our mission!"

"But Pope Julius tells us that--" Philippe tried to continue his point but was curtly cut off by the Archbishop.

"I don't want to hear any more about Pope Julius. Please leave me now."