Paul Brians points out that the story announces its satirical intent in the first paragraph, with the names of the competing Cardinals being the Italian words for "towel" and "artichoke", respectively.[3] Don D'Ammassa writes that it is a "quiet, understated satire" and notes the themes of the growing homogeneity and dehumanization of religion.[4] Malcolm Edwards categorizes this story as one of a group that Silverberg published in the early 1970s that were more experimental than his longer form work and were influenced by techniques employed by contemporary literary writers like Donald Barthelme and Robert Coover. In these stories, Silverberg ironically reexamined traditional themes of science fiction.[5]