The Young Pope: conversation on faith, doubt, and divine irony

a fictional dialogue with Jude Law's character Lenny from HBO's The Young Pope

I’ve been finishing The Young Pope on HBO, which is about “A young cardinal from New York, Lenny Belardo, becomes pope of the Catholic Church when the leading contenders of the Papal conclave fail to win election.”

Starring Jude Law, the series is filled with thought-provoking dialogue and musings that make Law's character one of the most memorable, and even controversial, in many regards.

Anyway, I've crafted this dialogue inspired by some of the things he said in the show. I thought it would be a fun exercise in practicing my fiction writing while also offering some potential insights about God, Catholicism (I grew up Catholic so it makes the show more intriguing for me), organized religion, and our sense of meaning.

Anyway, Lenny is pretentious, arrogant, and a walking contradiction. And these are traits I either struggle with or embrace, depending on who you ask.

There’s no spoilers in this dialogue as it’s a made up conversation only inspired by Lenny’s words.