Why did the papal chamberlain in Angels and Demons finally burn himself to death?

In fact, this point has not been fully explained in the film ... To put it bluntly, it is the conflict and integration between science and religion. My wife was orphaned by the war when she was young. She can be said to be a victim of science. He hates science at heart and is extremely pious. He once worshipped the former Pope and didn't understand why he supported science. After learning that the Pope had children, his faith collapsed, because it was a great sin for a Catholic priest to murder the Pope. Later, he did it. For example, people who have been in turmoil are United as never before, and people with different disputes abandon prejudice for one purpose. The illegitimate child has tortured him for a long time, which can be said to be the key to the whole thing. His face turned black for this. Finally, after everything was revealed, he told others about the child (before that, he also said that the Pope was just an old man who was seduced by an evil bitch and gave birth to dirty blood ... maybe there was something wrong with the translation, and then another archbishop, an old friend of the Pope, told him that the child was already here, and that was himself). At this time, his obsession with collapse and reconstruction collapsed again. In particular, the priest told him that the Pope did not break the precepts, and that he was the product of artificial insemination, which can be said to be the purest child without original sin. I still remember the original sentence, "It was science that made him enjoy the happiness of being a father without desecrating his beliefs." It can be said that in the end, he was sober and repented, but it was a big mistake, so in the end, he chose to burn himself to death and purify his sins with fire.

My wife's self-immolation is the most touching place in the whole book, which belongs to his pain and confusion, his persistence and belief, and his tragedy. In the end, you can't see him clearly. Just like the title, the mixture of angel and devil, the mixture of faith and religion, the mixture of purity and desire, everything resonates with him perfectly.

The film does not reflect his despair, pain, collapse and confusion after learning the truth, which makes people love and hate. His death in the book is the process of purifying his soul as a great martyr in the flame of self-redemption, which is very shocking to read, and finally he became pope. At the moment of his self-immolation, the bishops collectively sang a hymn with his name, while the victim's daughter and the greedy reporter also chose to remain silent. This may be the reader's perception in the book.

The film does not describe the life experience of working wife, and the meaning of her death is naturally weakened or even degenerated into suicide, while the blending and conflict between religion and science has become a personal ambition, completely contrary to the original intention of this book. You will find that the working wife really has no ambition. He is guilty and naive and just wants to make the world a little better in his own way. This is also the reason why I will have deep feelings for him in the end.

Of course, this is just a personal opinion.