III. The Priest
“Whoa, sorry, I didn’t mean you, Father.”, Harvey looks around for any more of them, “I mean, I didn’t mean…”
“I was simply asking if the others were like this; your lectures.”
“Uh, no, yes.”, Harvey takes a step backward, “Not exactly.”
The group of born agains, seeing that the heretic is in good hands, marches proudly out the door, Onward Christian Soldiers echoing through the empty hall.
“Well, I can see how these Bible and Corn Belt schools might be difficult.” says the priest.
“Last week wasn’t much better,”, Harvey answers warily, “and that was NYU, my alma mater and my own people, if you know what I mean. Father, I’m sorry, but…”
“Allow me to apologize, for Mr. Albright that is. Now there is a boy in serious need of some higher education.”
Dr. Kessler smiles, and lets down his guard a little. “That’s good; can I use that?”
“Be my guest; compliments of John Patrick Collins.”, he holds out his hand, “We can dispense with the Father.”
“Harvey.”, they shake hands, “Might as well drop the Doctor too; seems to antagonize people.”
“You look like a schoolboy; what can you expect?”
“I suppose. Listen, I don’t mean to be rude, but…”
“Harvey, I’m just curious; when you said you resented being called scum, were you just being cute or did you mean to imply that you are indeed an atheist?”
“Well, my mother still thinks I’m a good little Jewish boy but, no, I don’t buy any of it anymore.”
“And a pagan as well?”
“Natural gods and natural pleasures without concern for manmade nonsense? Yes, definitely a pagan.”
“I’ve never met an atheist pagan before. Strange, you don’t look any different than the rest of us.”
“They do though.”, Harvey points excitedly to where the born agains had been sitting.
“Don’t they? I mean, did you ever notice that?”
“The only difference between them and you, Harvey, is faith.”
“That’s right. They have faith in an afterlife because they’re terrified of death. But you guys have added a twist, haven’t you? Eternal damnation, which terrifies them even more than death, and only you have the power to save them. Don’t you find that just a bit too convenient? I mean, Jesus, you’re all the same with your goddam perfumed gardens and shit. It’s fucking ridiculous!”
“My, you seem quite passionate about this.”
“Damn right I am. It’s the same old story: the dominant elite compel their subjects to accept as absolute truth whatever system of belief they may have decided to put forth as divine revelation. And here we are some four thousand years later and absolutely nothing has changed!”
“The intellectual non-believer always sees it that way.”
“We see it for what it is; no illusion, no self-deception.”
“So it is only you who see the absolute truth.”
“We each have our own truth, John, and the only thing absolute in life is death.”
Father John shakes his head gravely. “I certainly would not wish to live in your world, Harvey.”
“But you do, John; and deep in your very mortal soul you know it.”
“Perhaps one day you will see things in a different light, my son. Let’s take a walk, shall we?”
“A walk?” Harvey asks, slightly incredulous.
“Just a short one; I promise to be brief.”
“Well,”, Harvey replies, curious what this strange priest could possibly be up to, “no reason to stay here.”
John and Harvey head for the door; Professor Wolfe remains seated, wiping his brow.
“Thanks for trying, Professor.” , Harvey calls from the door.
Professor Wolfe raises his hand in acknowledgement but says nothing.
“Everybody’s pissed at me today.”
“And well they should be, Harvey. Although, to be honest, I did find your evidence somewhat compelling. Alas, decorum prevents me from going any farther.”
“Irish Catholic, right?”
“That I am, my boy, that I am. Unfortunately, I haven’t been home in quite some time.”
“Don’t tell me, off gathering converts in the wilds of…”
“Rome, actually. I am what they call a Sentinel of the Sacred Order of the Keepers of the Faith. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it? We used to be known as the Sacred Order of the Inquisition; until the sixties, can you imagine?”
“Ah ha, so that’s it.”, says Harvey, loosening up a bit, “Well, you’ve finally got me. What’s it gonna be, Father, burned at the stake?”
“Oh no; my goodness, we don’t do that sort of thing anymore. A little time on the rack, perhaps...”
“Wait a minute; were you at my other lectures too?”
“No, only this one; but we’ve been following your exploits in the Holy Land for some time now. You see, we tend to get a bit nervous when people start poking around in our garden.”
“Of course you do; you’ve been trying to sell poetry as history, for Christ’s sake. I mean, it was bound to come back and bite you in the ass eventually.”
“We’ve done pretty well for the last fourteen centuries; wouldn’t you say?”
“I can’t say much for your methods.”
“Nor can I, my son, nor can I.”, Father John takes Harvey’s arm as they walk, “Which brings us very neatly to why I have come here today. Harvey, there are many of us who believe that the time has come for Holy Mother Church to start cleaning up her image; to get some of the dirt out from under her carpets, as it were. We are, unfortunately, still in the minority, so it is necessary for us to work behind the scenes; distasteful but necessary.”
They stop, and Harvey looks closely at Father John’s face. “I’m lost.”, he says.
John holds his gaze. “At the moment, perhaps you are. You have evidence, mostly circumstantial, and you certainly make an impassioned argument; but you lack that one major find which would give you, what shall we call it, credibility? Without it, you are pissing in the wind. I like that one, don’t you? Pissing in the wind; it’s so visual.”
Father John raises his hand and a large man steps from a black Mercedes limousine. He walks toward them carrying an odd looking aluminum suitcase.
“This is a gift from His Excellency Cardinal Kovacs, Supreme Guardian of the Keepers of the Faith, and my mentor. The Cardinal has revealed his identity, in the strictest of confidence, as a show of good faith. This confidence must never, under any circumstances, be betrayed. That is the only condition he requires of you. The Cardinal has blessed what we are about to do and believes, as I do, that in the long run it can only help to strengthen the Church we so adore. He is giving you an opportunity which you may, of course, turn down. But you will not. Please do not misread my jovial demeanor, Doctor Kessler. I consider this a defining moment in my life and I am quite certain that you will soon feel the same way.”
John hands Harvey an envelope then reaches up and touches him on the forehead.
“Per istam sanctam unctionem, indulgeat tibi Dominus quidquid deliquisti, Amen.”
Father John and his chauffer walk to the limo, get in and drive off before Doctor Kessler can think of a single thing to say. He stands in the same spot for a full thirty seconds, staring alternately at the disappearing limo and the surprisingly heavy suitcase, before a wide smile takes over his entire face.