The Lavender Mafia: A fictional account of true corruption in the Catholic Church by John Barleykorn

Author:John Barleykorn [Barleykorn, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gilroy Publishing
Published: 2020-02-09T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Three years later.

Bishop Cesare was now the Archbishop of Newark. Father Paul George, was now Monsignor George and was the rector at a seminary (in the same diocese), attached to a large university. It was preferable to running a large parish, fewer minor details and more staff. Plus, the bishop needed someone he could trust and rely upon to ensure the seminarians were given the proper formation, and the right kind of men were being recruited.

Monsignor Paul George phoned the bishop. “Good morning, Louie.”

“Good morning, Paul. How do the new candidates look?”

“We’ve got a good selection of delightful men, just a few that might be problematic.”

“Tell me more, Monsignor.”

“First off is a John McCreesh, former military, a Navy corpsman, promoted several times. I think he might be a bit much, a regular GI Joe, even got two awards. One for saving a stabbing victim and another for reviving a man after a truck accident, and it looks like he’s studied martial arts. He’s straight as a Republican’s tie.”

“Oh, he sounds like a real gem, but we need the bodies, Paul.”

“Of course, but listen to what he wrote in his packet under three main reasons for wanting to be a priest. First, to fight the forces of darkness, second, rescue the unborn, and lastly, save souls from Hell.”

“Save souls from Hell? He actually wrote that in his packet? And fight the forces of darkness?” The bishop chuckled. “We have a real trooper here, fresh out of the armed forces. But he does have medical training, maybe we can stick him at Saint Mark’s as the hospital chaplain. Either way, we have sufficient time to indoctrinate him. Trust me, in five years our little sailor boy will have a more modern theology.”

“And here is another. Seth Abrams, former Marine.”

“A former Marine?” The bishop let out a big sigh. “Oh well, we can’t be too picky, Paul. I don’t know what’s attracting these men to the priesthood. We’ll just have to try and form them into something sensible.”

Jack arrived home to a grand welcome. A party was scheduled for the following day. He had left the Navy with an honorable discharge and had been accepted into the seminary in his home diocese.

After taking an Uber from the airport, Jack entered the home to a round of hugs. Beth spoke first. “I really missed you, Jack, and so did a lot of other people. Everyone is so excited about your party tomorrow. And I’m just warning you, I saw your old girlfriend, Nora, at the mall yesterday and I invited her. She really wanted to come.”

Jack laughed. “Don’t worry. We’ve been keeping in touch. Nora knows my plans.”

“We’re all excited about your plans, Jack,” Mollie said. “It will be such a blessing to have a priest in the family.”

“And a doctor too,” Patrick said. “Is it alright if I call you Doc McCreesh?”

“Sure, Dad, and if you’re sick, I’ll tell you to drink some water and change your socks.” Patrick loved the grunt humor; it took him right back to his Marine days.

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