“You knew with the knowledge of a close relative that Tony would never stand for a separation that long, especially one requiring him to move out of his home.
“And this with a couple who had lived together a quarter of a century! Even you would not have done this except out of sheer vindictiveness.
“You got at Tony through Beth, and in the process destroyed their relationship-their life together. All you had to do was convince Beth that you had the words of eternal life. And, I must admit, you’re pretty good at that-”
“You know, Robert, it’s peculiar how we start with similar premises and end with vastly different conclusions. Mother dies at my hand. You think it’s murder. I know I saved her from hell.
“And now, as far as our Catholic Church is concerned, Tony and Beth were living in mortal sin. Each time they copulate it’s another sin. How can she learn of our moral teaching and continue sinning? How can she prepare for marriage, especially, without showing the good faith of living apart?” Delvecchio spread his hands, indicating the argument was self-evident.
“Vince, it was within your power to dispense. How could you have been so rigid, so uncompromising, so lacking in understanding? How could you demand that a man move out of his own home? Especially when you knew the couple had lived together so long? If they committed a sin-and when will you stop being other people’s conscience? — it would have happened when they launched their original relationship. They were headed in no other direction than into the arms of Mother Church. Until you drove them away and ruined their lives.
“I wondered about that until it occurred to me that you wanted to punish Tony for having embarrassed and disgraced you-by making it awkward for you as a priest and a bishop to have a fallen-away brother.”
“All you’ve proven,” Delvecchio said, “is that you and I treat people differently. And you are, at the very least, an erring bleeding heart. Now, if we can end this-”
“One more thing, Vince. It came to me just this evening. It’s practically your signature.”
“Well?” Delvecchio, eyes now closed in pain, rubbed his head, as he had off and on during this entire interchange.
“About Lucy and the abortion question. While you had no way of knowing whether she had incurred a penalty, still you accused her of being automatically excommunicated. I believe you did this to scare her, to intimidate her. That would have made it difficult for her to state her case under media scrutiny. Then I came along and let her conscience speak, thus crippling your plan. And so, just as you did with Tony, so did you do to me. All these years, you couldn’t get even with Tony because there was no way to reach him. That must have been extremely frustrating. And then eventually you were able to use Beth to get to him.
“I helped your sister in derailing your plan to make her helpless in defending herself. At the time, I didn’t know I was upsetting your applecart, but I was. So you had to get even with me. But you couldn’t; there wasn’t anything you could do to me.
“However, as you used Beth to reach Tony, you are trying to use Father Tully to have your revenge on me.”
“That’s preposterous!”
“Is it? I don’t want anything for myself. But I wanted Zack to have St. Joe’s parish. You knew you could get to me by making it difficult, or better yet, impossible for Zack to become pastor here. And you easily sensed that Zack had a real problem with the Oath and Profession. All you had to do was demand he swear his fealty in a public ceremony.
“Well, you were right about one thing: He’ll never do it. So, you can block his appointment as pastor here. It hasn’t been officially announced yet. You’ll take a good pastor away from this parish. But you figure you’ll have gotten to me. You’ll have your revenge.”
Delvecchio shrugged. “It’s his choice. If he doesn’t want to follow the rules, so be it. But he’ll never be pastor here, or in any parish in this archdiocese.” Then, remembering that he scarcely could speak for all of Detroit’s auxiliaries in charge of territories, he added, “At least none of
“‘The rules,’” Koesler repeated scornfully. “Yes, the rules. Besides speaking with Dr. Moellmann this evening, I also called Pete Jackson and Fred Haun.”
Delvecchio, instantly recognizing the names of two priests recently transferred into his bailiwick and named pastors, winced as he realized where Koesler was headed.
“I asked them specifically,” Koesler said, “about the Oath and Profession. Haun wondered why I asked. He Was in complete agreement with both documents. He had even suggested that the two of you make the taking of these statements a paraliturgical ceremony, inviting the parishioners to attend. You assured him that was not necessary. And in the privacy of the rectory you listened as Haun read the documents.
“I didn’t expect such docility from Jackson. And I was right. He’s the one, the only one, I believe, who’s on record as thinking there’s no priest shortage. He said there are already too many. He also told me this evening that if ever he read those documents in your presence, he would follow that with going, to confession to you. During which he would confess that it was all a lie. And you couldn’t act on it or tell anyone because of the Seal of Confession.
“Now I’m sure he was kidding. But the fact is that he has withstood you. His appointment as pastor is official; he is installed. And he is not going to take the Oath or make the Profession.”
“So?”
“So you have on record one pastor who plainly refused to read those documents, even in a private setting. And another pastor who was ready, willing, and eager to read them during a public ceremony. And in Zack Tully you have a priest who cannot in good conscience do this. While you, for your part, are insisting on the public ceremony for Father Tully that you dismissed in the case of Father Jackson.”
“So?”
“So, remember when you were trying to deny Christian burial to the deceased wife of George Hackett? You were making up your own rules-demanding more in that case than the Church required. And you were shot down by Cardinal Boyle.
“What if the Cardinal were to be informed that you’re at it again? Making up your own rules? Telling one priest to forget an unnecessary ceremony, then demanding the same ceremony of another priest? And what if I let the Cardinal know why you were doing this?”
This open threat was very unlike Father Koesler. And Delvecchio well knew it.
“You … you would do that?” the bishop said in a near whisper.
“If you do not promise to back down from insisting that Zack take the Oath and make the Profession, yes. I’m willing to go to the mat on this!”
“What could Boyle do to me?” Delvecchio demanded in a mixture of desperation and bravado. “I’m a bishop!”
“An auxiliary, not an Ordinary. It’s simple enough to relieve you of all your functions. You would be bishop of nothing, going nowhere. It’s been done. Much tougher to do that to an Ordinary, pretty easy when dealing with an auxiliary.”
There was a pause that seemed longer than it actually was.
“Well?” Koesler pressed.
“I … I’ll think about it.”
But Koesler knew he had won the day. He hadn’t actually convinced Delvecchio that he ever had failed, that he’d been wrong. That he’d ever sinned. But he had persuaded the bishop that getting even with Koesler through Tully was simply not worth the consequences.
“And now,” Delvecchio massaged his forehead with a great deal of pressure, “I’ll be going. Here are the documents you want.” He tossed the envelope onto the pool table and wordlessly left the basement.
As he stepped out the front door, he came face to face with the two couples just arriving for the retirement party.
Why, they asked, was the bishop leaving? He pleaded a bad headache. The Koznickis and Tullys expressed their concern. The encounter was over in minutes. Delvecchio was gone. The other guests were in the rectory, being greeted by the two priests.
Due to the comparative lateness of the hour, they all went directly to the dining room.
As he took up the rear of this procession, Father Koesler at least knew that this entire matter was finished … ended.
Even the theory-unproven and undocumented-that there had been some sort of conspiracy on the part of
