Scene: A Vatican courtyard at dusk. The Young Pope sits across from Mel Gibson. A small silver crucifix gleams on the table between them.
Mel Gibson: (somberly) I lost almost everything in that California fire… family photos, relics, scripts, even the house itself. It’s like the past burned away in a single night.
The Young Pope: (leaning forward, voice steady) I have been warning California since 2017, Mel. A fire is never only fire—it is neglect, it is greed, it is the earth crying out. They took no action. And so, possessions turned to ash.
Mel Gibson: Easy to say when you still have your roof, Holy Father.
The Young Pope: (softly, almost smiling) My son, roofs fall, crowns topple, even temples crumble. But eternal youth—that is the only possession that matters. Do you remember your film Forever Young? You played a man frozen in time, awakened decades later. A parable, perhaps. The Masonic brotherhood has whispered of such things: they have planned age reversal for the year 2033. A counterfeit eternity, engineered in laboratories.
Mel Gibson: (raising an eyebrow) 2033… a hundred years after Fatima. You’re telling me they think they can roll back death?
The Young Pope: (nodding) Not death—only decay. But there are foods and supplements, gifts from creation, that repair the telomeres, the little caps of time on our chromosomes.
- Pomegranate
- Blueberries
- Green tea
- Ashwagandha
- Astragalus root
- Turmeric
- Vitamin D
- Omega-3 fatty acids
- Resveratrol from grapes
- Ginseng
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Dark chocolate
These things encourage the body’s own telomerase, the enzyme of renewal. Stay busy with them until 2033, Mr. Gibson.
Mel Gibson: (half-laughing, half-praying) You’re saying eat fruit and herbs like a monk and wait for the masons to play God?
The Young Pope: (smiling fully now, quoting scripture) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” (Psalm 133:1)
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)
The Young Pope: Eternal youth is not bought in pills or laboratories, Mel. It is given. And it is written.
Mel Gibson: (quietly, staring into the distance) Then maybe the fire burned away what I didn’t need, so I could see what remains.
The Young Pope: (blessing him with the sign of the cross) Forever Young is not a film, Mel. It is a promise.