Chapter 10: Alliance
Half a month later, the churches in Florence began to submit their lists to the Papal Palace. After the secretaries and clerks compiled the lists, they eliminated those whose age and height did not meet the requirements and gave the remaining lists to Rafael for review.
This job was originally supposed to be done by the Secretary General of the Papal Court, but Rafael had not yet announced his appointment of one. The cardinals had inquired about this matter overtly and covertly, and had even “recommended” several people, but Rafael had suppressed them all.
The Secretary General of the Holy See is the deputy of the Pope. As a symbol of religion, the Pope is pure, unique, and wholly devoted to the worship of God. He swears to reject all the temptations of worldly power and dedicates his body and mind to serving as God’s spokesman, so he cannot hold any secular positions. Therefore, as his agent, the Secretary of State is almost equivalent to the highest executive officer of Florence.
The position of Secretary General of the Holy See is enough to make everyone salivate, especially those nobles without clerical positions. Although the identity of the secular lord of Florence was not as supreme as that of the Pope, the power and wealth in his hands were real.
But no matter how much they inquired, Sistine I, who had the sole power to appoint the Secretary General, refused to announce his decision. The cardinals didn’t even know whether he hadn’t found a suitable candidate or if he didn’t want a Secretary General to act as his agent at all.
If it were the former, that would be fine. But if it were the latter…
Then they would have to reconsider the temperament of this new Pope.
Cardinal Lombardy had privately cursed the Portia family countless times for this, including vicious insults against Rafael himself and his female relatives. Cardinal Lombardy’s sons had long been accustomed to their father’s rage. When the two brothers entered the Lombardy Palace with their riding whips, they heard their father’s complaints coming from upstairs again, so they tacitly avoided the study to avoid being implicated.
“So what else did that Pope do to make Father so angry?” the younger brother asked casually.