He was "reassigned" to the most idle and unprofitable post in the Sacred Affairs Bureau: the archive backup division, responsible for transcribing and binding expired documents.
He had fallen from the clouds into the mire.
The grand villa was returned. His savings were quickly depleted as he lived off them, and his former "friends" all distanced themselves.
Unable to bear the poverty and scorn, his wife divorced him.
In the end, his family abandoned him as well.
When he couldn't even hold on to his meager-paying job at the archive backup division, he had to use the last of his connections and what little money remained to take over a tiny shop on Old Document Lane, scraping by repairing old books and writing cheap letters for hire.
Ten years ago, Pope Noe VII had announced he would be entering the Half-Plane known as the Sanctuary for a long period of prayer, leaving daily affairs to be managed by the College of Cardinals.
