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mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

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Mistress <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vatican<br />

bringing Olimpia back? Why should he torment himself, at his age,<br />

with such irritating details, when his brilliant sister-in-law could do all<br />

that for him?<br />

The pope had to agree. He desperately wanted Olimpia back. He had<br />

valiantly taken a stand against her to maintain <strong>the</strong> honor <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Catholic<br />

Church, but without her <strong>the</strong> honor <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> church had fallen to new lows.<br />

He missed his old comfortable pair <strong>of</strong> loafers. He missed chuckling and<br />

gossiping with her, unveiling his deepest fears, something he couldn’t do<br />

with anyone else. Nothing had been right since she left.<br />

But Innocent found himself in a quandary. Back in 1650 when he<br />

banished Olimpia from his presence, he had launched into angry monologues<br />

against her in front <strong>of</strong> ambassadors and cardinals. He had criticized<br />

her thieving from <strong>the</strong> papal treasury, her bossiness in running <strong>the</strong><br />

Vatican, and her selfish cruelty against her son, daughter-in-law, and<br />

grandson. The pope had sworn that for six years he had known nothing<br />

about her corruption, and now that he knew, he was exiling her from<br />

<strong>the</strong> Vatican. Those who listened to his tirades had applauded his firmness.<br />

If he brought her back despite her crimes, <strong>the</strong>y would laugh at his<br />

weakness.<br />

The pope knew that he would look ridiculous if he suddenly issued a<br />

pardon to Olimpia. He would need to canvas <strong>the</strong> Sacred College, as<br />

advisors to <strong>the</strong> church, to see whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>y would support her return.<br />

That way he wouldn’t be making <strong>the</strong> decision alone. He began timidly<br />

asking his cardinals individually what <strong>the</strong>y thought <strong>of</strong> allowing Olimpia<br />

back. Even those who did not particularly like Olimpia believed that<br />

she would provide a soothing influence on <strong>the</strong> pope, rendering him<br />

much easier to work with.<br />

Some cardinals thought that <strong>the</strong> pope’s open contempt for his sisterin-law<br />

had been unseemly; he should bring her back to a position <strong>of</strong><br />

modified favor, giving her <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> friend and first lady <strong>of</strong> Rome but<br />

not <strong>of</strong> running <strong>the</strong> government. These cardinals told <strong>the</strong> pope that<br />

Olimpia had learned her lesson; she would henceforth restrain her greed<br />

and ambition and restrict herself to a more womanly role—<strong>the</strong> pope’s<br />

hostess and companion.<br />

Cardinal Pallavicino sc<strong>of</strong>fed at this opinion. “And this is wondrous<br />

[ 315 ]

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