Marco of Lombardy, the angry penitent, continues his diagnosis of the world's problems. It's got only one sun, not two, as Rome had. And that one sun, the papacy, is not kosher. In fact, perhaps cannot be kosher under any circumstances.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore a big chunk of Marco's reasoning about the world's ills. He said it was in us. But he seems to claim it's more systemic than personal.

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Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:45] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, lines 97 - 129. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:29] The papacy is not--or cannot be--kosher.

[07:36] Pastoral metaphoric space unifies the passage.

[09:30] Our nature is NOT corrupted?

[12:46] The papacy v. the empire: Dante's dilemma.

[18:26] The papacy v. the empire: the dilemma of Dante's age.

[21:17] Marco's argument moves back into personal space: his own Lombardy.

[22:48] Three good men are left on the Italian peninsula.

[26:10] These three good men are in contrast to the gluten Ciacco's two witnesses in INFERNO, Canto VI.

[29:36] The church of Rome isn't in Rome anymore!

[31:44] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, lines 97 - 129.