The Last Word (Greene short story)

The story, written toward the end of Greene's life, reflects his frustration at the declining influence of religion, particularly Catholicism, in the modern world.

The story revolves around the last Pope, John XXIX, who was overthrown more than twenty years earlier with the establishment of a new world government under General Megrim.

The pope is now a frail old man, who lives in obscurity under a moderate form of house arrest, ignored by his neighbours and forbidden to keep any religious items.

The Pope's robes and even his papal ring are restored to him from the World Museum of Myths, and he is forced to don them for the occasion, faintly remembering earlier days when they were his normal attire.

His last words, before he is shot, are Corpus Domini nostri...[1] Greene ends the story by reflecting on the General's concern that Christianity may be abandoned and its last believers persecuted, but that somehow the faith will survive.