[vram22]

>Note that the Catholic Church is the oldest still existing organisation, and was at some point in history arguably the most powerful organisation in the world.

The book "The Shoes of the Fisherman" by Morris West is a good fiction novel, sort of related to your comment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_West

Excerpt:

[ In an unforseeable literary coup, the book was published on 3 June 1963, the very day on which Pope John XXIII died.[2] The book reached No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller List for adult fiction on 30 June 1963, and became the No. 1 best-selling novel in the United States for that year, according to Publishers Weekly. ]

[masonic]

The 1968 film version starring Anthony Quinn is excellent as well.

[vram22]

Didn't know about it, thank you. Will check it out if I can. IIRC, Quinn is the same actor who plays the Greek, Andrea, in the movie The Guns of Navarone, based on the book of the same name by Alistair MacLean.

I just googled about Quinn, and it seems he has played a role in some other famous movies too, including Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia and Lust for Life:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Quinn

[masonic]

His performance in the scene after the final failed vote during the papal conclave is one of my favorite film performances ever.

He also played the title role in Barabbas.

[vram22]

Ha ha, nice. I also have a few personal favorite scenes like that. If I think of some soon, will post them here. Thanks for those tips.

[vram22]

Here is one:

The scene between (actors) Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise in which Tom tells Jack "I'm not your son, and you're under arrest, you $#%#%@^!" is a good one. I forget the name of the film though.

Another one is the scene in the movie Julius Caesar (maybe based on some classical novel about him, possibly by Shakespeare?), which occurs just before his death. Powerful performances by both the actor playing Caesar and other Roman officials of the time.