Pat Boyle

Junior Theology Second Quarter Paper

Mr. Sciuto

November 8, 2006

Dilemma of the Papal Delegate

            Throughout “The Mission,” the papal delegate struggles with a major internal problem.  He is faced with the decision that many men of faith have to face.  He is asked to decide whether or not the Missions in Paraguay will be given to the Portuguese, so that they can sell the natives as slaves.  Now, anybody with a sense of modern culture would understand that this would be the wrong decision, and definitely not what the Church would want.  However, the Portuguese and Spanish put a lot of pressure on the Church to give up the mission territory, and if the Mission remains, there would be repercussions on the Jesuits. 

            The papal delegate decides that he will go to the Missions himself, and make his decision after he sees them first hand.  It is at this time that we start to see sympathy from the delegate towards the natives.  Upon seeing the Mission, the papal delegate learns how full of love and compassion these people are, and it creates a whole new problem.  On the last night of the visit to the Mission, however, the papal delegate explains to Fr. Gabriel that he knew his decision the whole time:  he would decide to give up the Mission territory.  When Fr. Gabriel asks the reason for the delegate to even come to the Mission, he responds “To try to convince you to come back with me.”  This quote suggests that the papal delegate does know what the right choice is, and in saying this, he shows deep respect for Fr. Gabriel. 

            By the end of the movie, the papal delegate is definitely a sympathetic character.  He knew what the right choice was, yet he was too afraid of the consequences to make that decision.  In a way, his faith is being compared to that of Fr. Gabriel and Rodrigo.  These two Jesuits had such strong faith in something that they were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice: their lives.  They did exactly what the papal delegate could not do, and at the end of the movie, we see him show great remorse over his decision.  “My Jesuit priests are all dead.  But, it is I who am dead, and they who live.”  This quote is said by the papal delegate, when reflecting on his decision with the Spanish and Portuguese representatives.  It shows not only regret for the decision he has made, but also that he understands that Fr. Gabriel and Rodrigo were right, and that they will live on in Heaven for their decision, while he himself will never be able to live with this burden. 

            People are faced with these faith decisions every day.  Maybe not to the extreme that the papal delegate was faced, but all the time people have to decide whether to do what they believe in, or choose to do what society says.  These decisions, as the fifth foundational lesson states, are very important and can’t help but influence our lives.  This definitely applies to the papal delegate, as he made a faith decision, which turned out to be wrong, and he was ashamed of himself afterwards.  So, the question of whether or not the papal delegate made the right choice morally is irrelevant.  The majority was telling him to give up the mission territory, and, like many of us would do, he gave into the pressure of society.  So the delegate is not so much at fault here.  Its not that he necessarily made the wrong decision, its that Fr. Gabriel and Rodrigo had an extraordinary amount of faith that is similar to the men of faith that have been studied this chapter.