Morris West’s novel Eminence has as its main character Luca Rossini, a priest and cardinal of the Catholic Church, established in the Vatican in Rome. The story begins with the death of the reigning Pope, who is kept alive only through oxygen and intravenous fluids to maintain his vital signs, and who, in short, is left to his fate until his eventual death—at the Pope’s own request, since he did not wish to be turned into a vegetative being and preferred to die in his residence. Those attending him—the doctors and the Camerlengo—agree to his request before the stroke, and once informed by Rossini, they allow him to die, bringing to the forefront the controversial issue of euthanasia within the Catholic Church.
Long before Rossini’s life in the Vatican, he had been a priest in an Argentine province during the dictatorship. What ultimately leads him to the Vatican is an incident in his own parish. Several soldiers entered the town, threatening the population while Rossini attempted to persuade them to stop. In response, the military commander ordered Rossini to be tied to a wheel and began whipping him until he lost consciousness. Afterwards, the soldier exposed his erect penis and said, “Who wants to fuck a priest?” At that moment, Isabel and her father witnessed the spectacle. Isabel’s father, a high-ranking and influential military officer, told his daughter to aim a rifle at the soldier while he approached to resolve the conflict verbally and personally. As the soldier attempted to sodomize Rossini, Isabel shot him in the skull. Her father then ordered the subordinates to leave. Finally, Rossini was untied and cared for by Isabel, while her father arranged for Rossini to be sent to Rome, thus preventing him from being handed over to the Argentine dictatorship.
Rossini and Isabel continue corresponding through letters and email, maintaining a very intimate relationship. Isabel eventually asks Rossini to recommend her husband, an Argentine diplomat in New York, so that they might see each other again after many years apart. Rossini agrees, and the two of them, along with Isabel’s daughter, meet in Rome. At that moment, Isabel confesses to Rossini that the young woman—her daughter—is also Rossini’s daughter. He is deeply grateful for the revelation and develops a good relationship with his newly discovered daughter. Isabel also shares another piece of news: she is dying of terminal bone cancer.
After the Pope’s death, the conclave is convened, and Rossini must isolate himself with the other cardinals for the election of the new Pope. To his surprise, he becomes a candidate alongside the Archbishop of Milan, largely because the Archbishop is the favorite and Rossini is being used to divert votes away from other possible candidates. In the end, Rossini is elected, but he decides to refuse the position in favor of the candidate from Milan. He does not feel capable of accepting it; he is a man shattered by Isabel’s death—a piece of news delivered to him during the conclave. He is a man unwilling to bear such enormous responsibility and left without anything to hold onto after Isabel’s death.
This novel contains many elements typical of Morris West’s narrative style: taboo subjects for the Church such as euthanasia, homosexuality, the possibility of priests marrying, the role of women in the priesthood who cannot aspire to become Pope, and the Church’s silence regarding events such as the Argentine dictatorship and its atrocities. The novel also highlights the role played by the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in the fall of the Argentine dictatorship.
Bibliography:
West, Morris. Eminence.
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