LITTLE MARY PART IV - As people only read a scene per week, I though it might be helpful to give recaps as they do in all episodics. Bishop Tivioli has become a progressive, radical voice within the Catholic Church, running a self-sustaining community in California. His mentor and friend, Cardinal Gian is sent from Rome to either convince Tivoli to stop his radical preaching-- which includes population control-- or to unseat him. Gian is astonished when 15-year-old virgin in the community is discovered to be pregnant with multiple fetuses, which she claims are the children of God. She quickly starts becoming an international sensation.
Scene
Five
Tivoli’s quarters at the
mission represented by a simple rocking chair, a straight chair and a side
table.
The lights very slowly
fade up on Gian, seated in a rocking chair, listening to a cassette tape on a
small, old and modest portable tape player. A large bandage is taped over his left
elbow.
He is staring off in
thought. Tivoli enters with a tea tray.
TIVOLI
Who
is that?
GIAN
Gracie
Fields... Tea?
TIVOLI
Espresso.
Tivoli hand him a cup and
saucer. Gian manages a smile.
GIAN
Marvelous
singer. Right
before
I went into the seminary,
I
saw her.
TIVOLI
In
Rome?
GIAN
London.
My parents had sent me to boarding
school.
I dreamed of being a singer on the stage.
TIVOLI
Ah,
yes.
GIAN
But
my voice was thin, it lacked
character
and resonance.
TIVOLI
You
have a lovely voice, Papa.
GIAN
I
know, I was quoting my instructor.
Still,
I knew I was no Gracie Fields, so
I
when I returned to Rome, I pursued my
other love.
TIVOLI
(beat)
You’re
feeling all right?
GIAN
Why?
TIVOLI
You
still look pale.
GIAN
I’m
fine.
TIVOLI
The
paramedic thought you
might
have had a mild stroke.
GIAN
No
stroke, I’m fine.
TIVOLI
That’s
what I told him.
GIAN
(pause)
What
do you think it was?
TIVOLI
A
mild stroke. But they’re not
going
to replace one frail Pope with
another,
so I told them you’d feinted.
GIAN
It
was... some kind of seizure....
Hallucination.
TIVOLI
Really?
GIAN
Yes.
(pause/turns
off music)
Have
you... Peter, have you ever
had
any communication with God?
TIVOLI
I
feel God’s grace. It’s guided me through
my entire existence.
GIAN
Yes,
I know.
TIVOLI
You
mean... ?
GIAN
Actual.
TIVOLI
There
have been times--
GIAN
Audible.
TIVOLI
(pause)
Have
you?
GIAN
(pause)
How
could you be sure?
TIVOLI
Are
you talking about your seizure?
GIAN
I
was posing a metaphysical question.
TIVOLI
(pause)
You
would just know. You would
feel
His presence.
GIAN
Hm.
TIVOLI
Why?
GIAN
Hm?
(trying
to be dismissive)
Something
happened in the
darkness.
TIVOLI
Marvelous.
GIAN
What?
TIVOLI
The
uncertainty in your voice.
GIAN
Don’t
be funny.
TIVOLI
What
did you think you heard?
GIAN
(pause)
The
Holy Spirit spoke to me through
the
statue in your chapel.
Tivoli nearly laughs.
GIAN
Told
me I must “do what must be done”.
(no
response from Tivoli)
You
don’t believe it’s possible?
TIVOLI
I
don’t believe that God interferes here.
GIAN
He
has appeared before.
TIVOLI
In Biblical times.
GIAN
Even in more recent history.
TIVOLI
As
the delusions of the insane or the
machinations
of some king.
GIAN
Hm.
TIVOLI
(studied)
Or
pope. Political, not mystical.
GIAN
Hm.
(pause)
Why
does the espresso never taste
right
in America?
AUGUSTINE CARDINAL SAVICI,
40’s, enters. He is almost always bubbly, upbeat and disarming.
SAVICI
(in Italian)
Tivoli
vescovo! Gian cardinali! Insieme una volta di piu!
Buono
da verdere!
Bishop Tivoli and Cardinal Gian! Together once
more!
It is good to see!
Lulit enters behind him,
carrying two Italian suits.
GIAN
Welcome,
Cardinal-Secretary.
How
is the health of His Holiness?
SAVICI
Meravigiloso!
Lo ho lasciato nel
la
buon umore!
Wonderful! I left him in the best of
spirits!
Savici takes them from
her, displays them to Gian and Tivoli.
SAVICI
(to
Lulit)
Grazie.
Thank you.
(turns
back to the men)
Sto
guidando qui nel limosuine--
I’m being driven here in
the
limosuine--
(looks
to Lulit)
Non
parlate italiano?
Do you not speak Italian?
LULIT
Almost
none, Your Eminence.
TIVOLI
Italian’s
not big in Ethiopia.
SAVICI
No,
of course. I said, “I am
in
the limosuine”. I see the
sign:
Outlet Mall. I must
have
the driver stop.
TIVOLI
You
went shopping?
SAVICI
Not
for myself. Never. Gifts!
I
love gifts! Look!
Look!
Italian wool, but... sewn in China.
They
will laugh well at home!
LULIT
Excuse
me, we are administering
inoculations.
SAVICI
(gasps)
Is
there an epidemic?
LULIT
Just
some nasty viruses that
have
been brought in from abroad.
SAVICI
The
price for a world without
borders.
Could you hang these
somewhere,
please?
Lulit hesitates, then
takes the two suits.
SAVICI
Thank
you, Sister...?
LULIT
Mother
Lulit, Your Eminence.
SAVICI
Ah!
The famous. Thank you.
Lulit gives Tivoli a look,
then leaves.
SAVICI
(to Gian)
Your
arm is injured?
GIAN
I
fell.
TIVOLI
There
was a blackout.
SAVICI
“Blackout”?
(points
to Gian’s elbow)
Well,
we should not have that soon.
GIAN
What?
SAVICI
The
bandage.
GIAN
I
have plans to remove it,
once
the bleeding stops.
SAVICI
So,
that is the Ethiopian you
tried
to make priest?
TIVOLI
I
did make her a priest.
None
of my accomplishments
in
Africa would have been
possible
without her.
SAVICI
I
am certain she is a good convert.
But
it clearly was not the wish of
Christ
that women should minister.
You
need only look at His Apostles.
TIVOLI
Then
we sould all be circumcised Jewish peasants.
SAVICI
And
perhaps only one of us is..
(a
small, “good-natured’ laugh)
TIVOLI
I
should think you would praise me for trying to make
the
Roman Catholic Church progressive.
SAVICI
Progressive?
TIVOLI
For
keeping the hierarchy from becoming
as
impotent and obsolete as the British royals.
SAVICI
Perhaps
another day I will have time
to
praise you.
GIAN
You
cannot deny Bishop Tivoli is well thought of in America.
SAVICI
I
admit he is highly revered. By certain elements.
GIAN
He
is widely popular.
SAVICI
Just
so. But it is not our job to be popular. It is to keep
our
church popular.
(turns
to Gian)
So!
We are very interested. What has
occurred
here?
GIAN
Cardinal
Secretary, there was an article written--
SAVICI
Yes!
It has made great excitement in Europe.
GIAN
It
is known about?
TIVOLI
Cardinal
Gian was misquoted.
SAVICI
I
have corrected it. You said, “Indeed, all new life
is
a great miracle.” It is in the news tomorrow.
GIAN
We
are denying her claim?
SAVICI
No!
We are proceeding cautiously…
and
maintaining solidarity.
GIAN
These
are the instructions from
His
Holiness?
SAVICI
(pause)
His
Holiness-- God give him strength--...
I
believe he understands what has happened
here.
The news seemed to give him solace.
How
blessed we are: A Roman Catholic girl
in a Roman Catholic mission being chosen
by
the one true God.
TIVOLI
What
we have is an innocent young girl who
has been raped and traumatized.
SAVICI
Yes,
so we thought at first.
Are
you familiar with the
medical
testimony?
TIVOLI
I
don’t think it’s testimony unless
there’s
a trial.
SAVICI
(a
tad testy)
Forget
my English. Have you been
paying
attention?
TIVOLI
Yes.
SAVICI
We
have confirmed her story. She
is a virgin with seven viable fetuses
conceived without the aid of fertility drugs.
TIVOLI
Freaks
of nature, there have been millions.
Holy Mothers, one.
SAVICI
Miracles are still recognized by the devout
in our church.
TIVOLI
And what happens when the children are born
Latino
instead of a divine rainbow coalition?
SAVICI
Divine
rainbow?
GIAN
The
girl has had a dream. Her offspring
are
a mix of all the world’s races.
SAVICI
Who
knows of it?
GIAN
Mother
Lulit, Christina’s father,
Bishop
Tivoli and I.
SAVICI
We
must advise the girl against
talking
about this dream.
TIVOLI
DNA
tests will be done.
SAVICI
Who
knows what God’s children will be like?
He can give them any DNA he wishes.
They
may seem to be the same as
you or me,
as Jesus was. That will not change who they are,
or what they mean to us. Yes?
TIVOLI
You
don’t believe her, either.
SAVICI
I
believe that belief is what is needed!
Terrible
events in the world-- in our church-- ...
Suffice
to say, there is a crisis of faith in this country.
TIVOLI
And
this will bring us credibility?
SAVICI
You
see the joy and interest it
has
generated already.
TIVOLI
(points out the window)
The
pilgrims? It’s the same misguided thousands who rushed
to worship the image of Mary on a grilled cheese
sandwich.
SAVICI
Polling
showed attendance at mass across America
increased
markedly this past Sunday. Not
the
numbers we had following9/11,
but still most encouraging.
Tivoli laughs at him.
SAVICI
Is
that funny?... Ha.
(beat)
I
appreciate your personal interest in this
young girl. I think it best for now that we
all stay with her here and show
the
expectant mother our support and interest.
TIVOLI
This
will blow up in your faces.
SAVICI
Our
support and interest.
(beat)
Cardinali
Gian, there may be no need to censure
Arch
Bishop Tivoli.
GIAN
His
Holiness has reconsidered--?
SAVICI
He
has, yes.
(pause/to
Tivoli)
I
have some luggage and other
purchases
in the limousine. Do you
have
someone here to retrieve them?
Lights fade to the pin
spot on the face of the statue. Numerous voices-- television bytes, etc.-- are
underscored by the rising sound of murmurs, wails and muttered prayers from a
massive, growing throng.
VOICE
The
young woman some are calling
“Little
Mary” stays cloistered--
VOICE
--two
Roman Catholic cardinals
have
taken up residence with
the
controversial Bishop--
VOICE
--President
today granted American citizenship
to the girl’s father--
VOICE
--creating
international outrage--
VOICE
--the
civil liberties union demanded--
VOICE
--fundamentalist
group vowed--
VOICE
--accusations
that the Catholic Church is[s1]--
VOICE
--a
man claiming to be Satan
stabbed
two pilgrims with a pitch fork--
VOICE
--at
www-dot-littlemary-dot-info.
As the sound escalates to
a fever pitch, the lights slowly rise on Christina, sleeping fitfully at the
base of the statue.
[s1]Jess
felt this sentiment would be in the forefront, that the Catholic Church was
perpetrating this hoax itself
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