Chapter 12
"So tell me Father Andrew, what was Father Theophane like?"
"He was a fine man," Andrew said. "He held strongly to the traditional values of the Church. He insisted on Latin in the Liturgy and wanted no part of inclusive language, or women priests, or Masses which allow lay people to be ministers in various capacities such as distributing Holy Communion, or proclaiming the Word of God during Mass. He was encouraging young people to follow in his footsteps and had several of them taught in a traditionalist seminary we have out west."
"Is your operation, excuse me, your Center, approved by the Roman Catholic Diocese?"
"Oh certainly not, we wouldn't want that. Our approval comes from God and we have a headquarters out in the west on the grounds of the seminary where we are incorporated."
Abruptly David asked: "Would Father Theophane ever consider taking his own life, Father Andrew?"
"Never; that's a mortal sin. There's no way he would ever do that."
"Forgive me for saying this, Father, but doesn't Catholic theology say that, while suicide is a grave offense, a mortal sin, that the mental capacity of some people would lessen the guilt or culpability, as somebody recently termed it for me?"
"Well, that is said, but there's so much skirting the law and so much situation ethics these days that we really don't rely on that type of attitude. Right is right and wrong is wrong and Father Theophane would never have committed suicide."
"Do you know if he had any enemies?"
"Father Theophane?--he was liked by many, many people, but because of his strongly conservative views on Church matters, his prophetic views if you will, he was also hated by some."
"Who might some of those people be, Father?"
"The radicals, you know, people who are trying to throw everything out and subvert two thousand years of tradition in the name of Vatican Council II."
"People who might read and think along the lines of Beth Johnson-Angelo?"
"Please," the priest shuttered, "don't say that name in this house. It's demonic. Yes, some of her followers are the type who would hate Father Theophane--and me for that matter. I must honestly add that Professor Johnson-Angelo would probably not countenance that sort of thing. I forced myself to read some of her writings and hate to admit it but I think she was somewhat sincere," he added with a scowl.
"Father Andrew, I'd like to track down the young man who was here for an appointment on the day that Father Theophane was murdered. Can you give me his name and address please?"
"I'm sorry, Detective, that's confidential information under the Seal of the Church."
"Father Andrew, there is no Seal of the Church in this operation. You just told me that. Now you please give me that name and address and phone number, or we'll get a search warrant and go through the entire place from top to bottom."
"I guess I have no choice. You can talk with Miss Von Kiel. Is there anything else?"
"Not for now Father. Thank you for your cooperation."
The priest left abruptly. Dave followed a few steps behind and stopped at Miss Von Kiel's door. She was busily typing at the computer. He requested the information needed and she hesitated at first but when she was told that Father Andrew approved it, she gave the detective Father Theophane's entire appointment book.
Dave drove over to the Wilson home, just a few miles away, and asked to speak with Mark. The mother of the family didn't seem all that interested when she answered the door to the modest house on a Norman Rockwell type of street. She said he's probably at the parish church where he always is. I drove a few blocks further and found a young man with closely cropped blond hair kneeling before a statue of the Blessed Mother.
"Excuse me Mark," Dave whispered, and the young man jumped up and spun around. "I didn't mean to disturb you or startle you, but I need to talk with you about Father Theophane."
"Father Theophane, I don't know any Father Theophane. Who are you?"
"I'm Detective Gold and Father Theophane used to be at the Center for Traditional Catholicism."
"Oh yeah, I know who you mean. He stood me up the other day."
"What do you mean, he stood you up, Mark?"
"Well, I had a one o'clock appointment and he never showed up for it, so I left."
"When did you leave?@
AOh about one ten, one fifteen, something like that, Detective. Why, is something wrong?"
"Didn't you see the morning papers, Mark?"
"No, I didn't, Detective, I'm trying to keep myself away from worldly things like the newspaper."
"I see," responded the detective pensively. "Father Theophane is dead." The boy looked shocked but not shocked enough. "Have we met somewhere before, Mark?"
"No, I certainly would remember it. I don't talk to detectives very often."
"What were you at the Center for anyway?"
"Well, Detective, if you must know, I think God's calling me. In fact, I hear him all the time. He tells me I should be a priest, and he tells me I should restore the Church to its original beauty. He tells me that I should do all I can to squelch out this progressive element that has practically destroyed the Church and I wanted to tell Father Theophane that. I've been writing to him and he said to come and see him, that maybe he could get me in the seminary, but I think it was a trick. I think maybe he's a progressive that infiltrated that group and when he figured out my thoughts somehow, that he didn't show up, and God knows what would have happened to me if I didn't put all that together and get out of there quickly."
"Wow, Mark, how long has all this been going on inside of you?"
"Oh, for a long time, months, maybe longer," he said with a strange type of satisfaction.
"Have you tried to sort it out with anybody, talked with somebody?"
"Well, Detective, that's why I was going to Father Theophane but he turned on me. I was seeing a psychiatric social worker for a while but she did the same thing. Sooner or later, pretty much everybody does turn on you, you know."
"Ah yeah, maybe you're--maybe you're on to something there, I don't know."
"I sure am Detective. Your turn will come too, you know. You'll turn on me. The only one who won't is God and maybe the Blessed Mother. That's why I'm here. Good day."
With that the young man turned around on his heal and knelt down in front of the statue of the mother of Jesus and the detective uncharacteristically stood there with his mouth open for a few moments before he left the church.