The X-Men help the surviving mutants in the church, while Nightcrawler learns from Father Whitney, before he dies, that his becoming a priest was a scheme for the Church of Humanity to take over the world. The X-Men head to Montana to stop the Church of Humanity. The X-Men engage in battle with the Pope, who turns out to be a nun who was raped by a priest and forced to leave her work, which she loved. The woman commits suicide, ending the Church of Humanity’s plans…for now.
 
In a subplot, Polaris is getting increasingly ruthless in enganging and killing opponents. This dialogue makes her mindset rather clear.  "Cyclops: Lorna, you can't just...you'll kill them... Polaris: Yeah. I would expect so. So what's your point?"