In his first Sunday homily as pope, Leo XIV described his election as both a “mission” and a “cross.” Those words speak to his clear eyes and humility in the face of the enormous responsibilities he now bears. The election of a pope is a joyful thing. Being pope is the hardest job in the world.
You couldn’t do better for a logline for “The Shoes of the Fisherman” (1968), Michael Anderson’s epic Cold War Vatican drama, written by John Patrick and James Kennaway, based on the novel by Morris West. In the film, Kiril Lakota (Anthony Quinn) is a Ukrainian priest recently released from a Soviet gulag. Despite requesting “a simple mission” from the pope, he is made a cardinal—and, shockingly, is elected pope after his predecessor’s death.
From the beginning, Kiril recognizes that the papacy is a kind of cross. When his brother cardinals begin to voice their support for him at the conclave, Kiril begs them to stop. Later, when asked if he accepts the papacy, he answers: “I accept. And may God have mercy on me.”
He is immediately beset by thorny challenges. His friend and advisor, Father Telemond (Oskar Werner, clearly based on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin), is on trial for heterodoxy and Kiril must decide whether or not to suppress his work. And even worse: A devastating famine in China threatens to push the world’s superpowers into nuclear war. Kiril’s former jailor Kamenev (Laurence Olivier), now the Premier of the Soviet Union, invites him to a secret peace talk with China’s revolutionary leader (Burt Kwouk), in the hopes that he can succeed where all others have failed.
“The Shoes of the Fisherman” is concerned with the person beneath the papal vestments. What does it mean for a human being—as fallible and incomplete as any of us—to take on such enormous responsibilities? It’s one thing to discern God’s will in your own life; what about when millions of lives hang in the balance?
But Kiril’s humanity is perhaps his greatest strength. From the start he indicates that his papacy will be defined by simplicity when he chooses to retain his birth name (in honor of “the saint that brought the Gospels to our country”), becoming Kiril I. He approaches his challenges with humility, seeking to understand and discover the best path forward. While the film necessarily loses the novel’s interiority, it makes up for it by casting Quinn in the lead role: His cragged face and soulful eyes speak volumes. Quinn was a physically imposing presence (as seen in our last film, “La Strada,” and many others) and Kiril—the rugged work camp survivor—certainly has a fundamental strength. But Quinn also plays him as gentle and unassuming, always trying to get on the same level with others instead of towering over them.
In one of the film’s best scenes, he dresses in simple clerics and slips out of the Vatican to walk the streets of Rome (based on stories about John XXIII, although it reminded me of rumors about Pope Francis doing the same). Encountering a doctor (Barbara Jeffords) treating a dying man, he offers to help. When Kiril learns that the man is Jewish, he surprises everyone by fluently praying the Shema. This is a pope who meets people where they are, who doesn’t insulate himself from the messiness of life.
That doesn’t make his job any easier; indeed, his sensitivity just makes him acutely aware of how lonely “the shoes of the fisherman” really are. “Like it or not, you are condemned to a solitary pilgrimage, from the day of your election until the day of your death,” he is told by Cardinal Leone (Leo McKern). “This is a Calvary, Holiness. And you have just begun to climb.” It’s a grim vision of papal responsibility, but also gets at the very real weight of the role.
As we continue to watch and pray for Pope Leo XIV in these early days of his papacy, it’s good to remember that the man in white is, indeed, a man. He will have to learn on the job, a job with a far steeper learning curve than most. He will not be perfect. But there has never been a perfect pope, not even St. Peter—and the church doesn’t need a perfect pope. As Kiril reminds his cardinals when they balk at a monumental act of charity: “The only thing necessary to the church is the Spirit of God.” And, I would add, a leader willing to trust and follow that Spirit.
Pope Kiril trusts in that Spirit to guide him through the storms of his papacy. Let’s pray that Pope Leo, and we, can do the same.
“The Shoes of the Fisherman” is available to rent on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime.
