What did the Cardinal mean by this?
Did he order the Vatican security to execute the Camerlengo? Or to take him into custody?
I always felt he gave the order to execute the Camerlengo as a form of justice and to allow them to deal with the matter how they see fit i.e. to keep it quiet and cover up what really happened, but the whole executing a person things makes me wonder.
This was added for the movie and doesn't appear in the book, so any answer is conjecture. But I felt that it was just an order to aprehend him.
shareIMO, it was an order to execute him. The man had plotted to steal the papacy, had nearly blown up Vatican city, had injured hundreds of people and damaged a great deal of the vatican in the blast, was indirectly responsible for the deaths of 3 cardinals and at least a dozen other people, and had personally murdered the previous pope.
The blond swiss gaurd guy looked like he personally wanted to rip his heart out with his bare hands. That's why the cardinal told him to do it "Gently", but he didn't say "don't do it".
IMO - Considering that the public has seen the Carlemengo do a heroic act, imagine the uproar if they arrested him outside of the Vatican, hence the "within our walls" part.
share