The first official trailer for The Young Pope, starring Jude Law as the fictional Pope Pius XIII, has been released.

The eight-part miniseries will see Law playing Lenny Belardo, the first American Pope in history. The teaser trailer shows him smoking, and pledging to start a revolution.

Asked who he is, Belardo responds: "I'm a contradiction".

"I'm God. One in three and three in one. Like Mary: virgin and mother. Like man: good and evil."

"Young and charming, his election might seem the result of a simple and effective media strategy by the College of Cardinals. But, as we know, appearances can be deceptive," a statement from Sky said.

"Especially in the place and among the people who have chosen the great mystery of God as the guiding light of their existence. That place is the Vatican and those people are the leaders of the Catholic Church. And the most mysterious and contradictory figure of all turns out to be Pius XIII himself.

"Shrewd and naïve, old-fashioned and very modern, doubtful and resolute, ironic, pedantic, hurt and ruthless, Pius XIII tries to walk the long path of human loneliness to find a God for mankind. And for himself."

Directed by Paolo Sorrentino, the series stars Diane Keaton as a nun living in the Vatican City who raised Law's character and helped his ascension to Pope.

It is scheduled to begin showing on Sky Atlantic in the UK in October.