Shout in the Dark (11 page)

"
No statues?"

"
Not of Jews or Old Testament characters. The Jews forbade
statues, seeing them as idols, but the residents of Caesarea
Philippi would not have worried about that. They lived in an
independent Gentile area. The earliest Christian art in the
catacombs shows Jesus as the Good Shepherd. And he never has a
beard. I wonder why. That
is
something for you to think about while you're awaiting
Amendola's final decision."

"
We're talking about a Christian object surviving intact for
nearly two thousand years," objected Marco, ignoring the mention of
the Cardinal's panel.

"
Two thousand years? If other ancient bronzes have survived,
is it so surprising that just the head of this one could still be
in existence? Two thousand years is not so long for a bronze
article, especially if a Christian group has been guarding it
carefully for much of that time."

"
Which Christian group?" Marco asked immediately.

The old priest shook his head and bit his
lip. "If only we knew its history."

"
Does anyone know where this group was living?"

"
In a monastery, possibly near Rome. At least, that is what
I now believe. How would you like to do some detective
work?"

Marco sat up. "If you think the face could
look like Jesus Christ, it would affect every Christian. Maybe
overturn dreams."

"
We all have our own idea of what Jesus looks like, Marco.
Some black Africans see him as black, and some Asians see him as
Asian, because that is how they want to relate to him. And why
not?"

"
You're right, and deep down we all know our pictures aren't
correct. I remember Sister Maria saying that no one knows what
Jesus looked like. A boy behind me said that
he
knew. He said he had a picture of Jesus in his
Bible!" Marco grinned. "It will be a shock if this bronze head is
authentic."

The haunting words of Old Savio came
back.
A
relic. They say it could shatter the Church.
Not true, surely? "No wonder the Vatican
got excited when someone found it in..." He stopped. "But according
to Cardinal Amendola the one they found in the Vatican was a
fake!"

Father Josef nodded. "True, although Canon
Angelo Levi believed he was given the original during the
war."

"
The Vatican must have taken photographs -- if they had the
original. Or has Cardinal Amendola been at the
shredder?"

Father Josef looked surprised. "You really
have it in for poor Amendola. I doubt that such a photograph
exists. When the war ended, Canon Angelo Levi failed to persuade
the Vatican experts to take his relic seriously. I would dearly
love to look at the features on that face. Photographs of the
modern head that was destroyed yesterday would be of no
interest."

"
So what happened to the real one?"

"
Marco, evil is like a circle. It passes by, but it comes
round again. I believe history is repeating itself. We have to
break that circle." Father Josef glanced up at the painted faces in
their frames high on the walls. "This room makes me uncomfortable,
which is doubtless why the Cardinal chose it for the panel. Come,
we will go to my apartment and I will tell you what I want you to
do for me."

The old priest carefully gathered up some
papers, and rose slowly. He led the way down the staircase and
along a corridor until they came to a worn, highly polished door to
a small apartment. The rooms and the sparse furnishings could have
been found in the senior lecturer's quarters of any ancient
university -- at the turn of the nineteenth century. The apartment
seemed to be located directly below the meeting room, since the
view was of the same part of the piazza. At this level the traffic
made the window vibrate.

"
Marco, we believe a group of neo-Nazis is involved in a
plan to divide and destabilize the Church."

Marco settled into the vast leather
armchair. "We? You make it sound like the secret security
services."

"
You have already been sworn to silence about today's
events. That oath still applies."

He looked around the room. This old priest
was either totally mad or he was offering some interesting work.
"Of course."

"
There are several bodies in the Church concerned with
security. Their duties run from the personal protection of His
Holiness to the defense of our faith from heresy. You
understand?"

He'd learned enough about bodies like the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to feel uneasy. No one
went before
them
with a
disrespectful attitude.

"
Countless crimes were committed in Italy during the fascist
years. The occupying Nazi forces committed some, our own people
committed others. Popular belief is that the Vatican glossed over
many of these crimes. It was a time of great evil. Slowly the
Church is asking for forgiveness for her support of an evil right
wing. We saw Communism as the greater enemy." Father Reinhardt
shook his head. "Many priests risked their lives to rescue Jews.
But others did nothing. Rightly or wrongly, they saw it as their
priority to protect their villages and congregations from Nazi
reprisals. Very few Catholic priests come out of this without some
share of blame. But you and I were not involved, so we are not in a
position to judge."

"
I wasn't even born," said Marco. "What about
you?"

"
I was sixteen years old in Germany at the start of the war.
And now I am part of a special body within the Church. My duty is
to protect our people from the evils that remain from the war. We
are, as you correctly call us, a secret security service. We serve
the interests of the Church, and our existence is certainly secret.
We are not, however, violent. In that way we differ substantially
from national security organizations around the world
today."

Marco looked carefully at Father Josef
Reinhardt, deciding to defer judgment on the old man's sanity until
later. "So how did the bronze head get to the Vatican during the
war?"

"
It is a complex family situation, Marco, and one I do not
wish to go into at present. Over the coming days you will stay in
contact with me here on the Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore. This is
where I work as well as live."

"
Now just a minute," Marco protested. "I was summoned here
to meet the panel of inquiry, but they came across from the
Vatican. It's almost as though the main point of my being here was
to see
you
."

Father Josef
laughed. "What can I say? These are indeed my
quarters. The others you met at the inquiry were told it would be
better for them to travel across the city, than for an old man like
me to go to them."

Marco studied the elderly priest's face.
Assuming the secretive body was real, and he was still not
convinced about that, Father Josef was unlikely to be an
insignificant member. "Can you reassure me that the bronze head at
the studios was modern?"

"
Rest assured, Marco, it was. Once upon a time Canon Angelo
Levi had the genuine one, but it has disappeared. He was attempting
to sell a fake when he was murdered almost twenty years
ago."

"
A sting?"

"
You mean...?"

"
He switched it."

"
Yes, Marco, it appears so. Angelo was attempting to do a
deal with the neo-Nazis -- but I believe he wanted to use his
deception to raise money for the poor. Unfortunately he was killed
before he could tell anyone what he had done with the original. And
because you made a public spectacle of yourself on television last
night, I anticipate you will now be approached."

Marco walked to the window and looked out
at the huge fifth century church filling the piazza. Life seemed to
have suddenly become a mess. Did God often make life difficult for
new priests? No wonder there was a shortage. "Approached? Who by?
You're talking as though you want me to get involved, yet according
to Cardinal Amendola I made a serious mistake."

"
Marco, from when I am, you most definitely did
not
make a mistake. This is a
photocopy of a crumpled note left at TV Roma last night, by what
appears to be the neo-Nazi group called the ADR."

"
I've heard of the ADR," said Marco. "
Achtzehn Deutschland
Reinigung
, or something
like that. It's to do with racial purity. They want to complete
Hitler's political plan for Germany."

"
You are wrong, Marco. Hitler and the Nazis had a clear and
wide ranging political blueprint for Germany. Racial purity was
only a part of it. Certainly the way they set about removing the
people they saw as impure was an appalling act of barbarity. But
most of the neo-Nazi movements today, like the ADR, have no
political agenda. They are motivated by nothing more than racial
hatred. Their sole purpose is to harass, abuse and even kill
immigrant families and workers."

"
And you want me to get involved with them?"

"
Like it or not, Marco, you are already involved. I have
here a cell phone for you to borrow. I already have the number for
it. You may use it for your personal needs, and give the number to
your friends. And certainly you must use it to keep in touch with
me whenever you consider it necessary."

Chapter
11

MARCO SAT IN the
leather armchair in Father Josef's room and read the German
neo-Nazi's note through twice.

The property stolen by the
Church from the German People in 1944 has now been
reclaimed
.
The people deserve better than a shabby secrecy surrounding major
relics. The true image of Jesus Christ, the most significant
religious figure in the world, is now safely in the hands of the
ADR, a group pledged to set up a Shrine of Unity free from the
taint of Jewish tradition.

"
The emblem of the New Cross will be a rallying
place for the pure, a fortress for the defense of the strong, and a
bastion for denouncing the weak and inferior. The Spirit of the
Hero will draw all people of the pure race to unity in a new Power,
a new Reich.

Father Josef interrupted his reading. "The
Spirit of the Hero was part of Hitler's
Weltanschauung
, Marco, his search for our Indo-Germanic
roots. These quickly became known as our Aryan-Nordic roots: a
quest for a mythical tribe in the north, having a special
relationship with God from prehistory."

"
I thought that was the Jews."

"
So it was, Marco, but the Nazis claimed the Jews were the
Aryans' enemy. The serpent's seed. We did not want to hear true
teaching in the Church in Nazi Germany. Positive Christianity we
called Hitler's ideas on religion. When I say we, I too was drawn
into believing that doctrine. I know now that it is, of
course,
bestemmia
--
blasphemy -- but it appealed to many of us at the time. The New
Cross is nothing more than the Swastika. Hitler wanted to prove
that Christ came from a non Jewish background. This is a revival of
his New German Faith Movement."

"
And you and other people seriously believed him?" Marco was
astonished.

"
We had been indoctrinated by experts. We
wanted
it to be true. Of course I can
see it now as a complete contradiction of New Testament teaching
and beliefs. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the Jewish leader
sent by God. The name Christ means Messiah. He went further than
that. He claimed to be the Son of God who would die for the sins of
the world. Some of the Jews accepted him. Others did not, and they
crucified him. The first Christians
were
Jews. The Holy Spirit had to show the New Testament Church
that Jesus had come for everybody, and they must go out and share
their faith with the whole world. They found it difficult at
first."

Marco began to feel uneasy. "The New Faith
Movement turns the Christian gospel of love and forgiveness on its
head."

"
You are right, of course, Marco. These are some of the
worst philosophies of today's neo-Nazi groups. But make no mistake,
if they can put the true likeness of Christ on show, many people --
good people -- will feel compelled to be present at such an
event."

"
How can anyone in the neo-Nazi movement hope to display a
bronze head of Christ, a stolen work of art?" protested Marco. "The
authorities would come down on them as soon as they opened the
doors to the public. It would be like the Tate in London stealing
the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, then hanging it in one of their
galleries. People are going to notice."