The SPECTRE Of The VATICAN ©

Chapter 62 - The Sniper.

Time: Present Day
Location: Vatican City

"Hello, I'm Layla, and this is my cameraman Mal. Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I owe your friend Amanda a nice lunch for arranging it."

"That's quite alright, we are always happy to co-operate with the media here at the Vatican," Peter lied.

"Just while Mal is setting up and off the record so to speak, I'd like to discuss your views on a couple of things to get a feel of where to take the interview if that's alright."

"Yes, that would be okay I suppose."

"Let me start by saying Amanda told me she knew you quite well several years ago growing up, you were next door neighbours I believe."

"Yes, that is so."

"She tells me you had quite a crush on her identical twin sister."

"You could say that. Amelia and I were close growing up. Yes we liked each other, teenage crush you could call it I suppose."

"It was tragic, what happened to her in Paris. And she had a little baby I believe. Amanda tells me you in fact were the father."

"Look, yes, I only found out about that recently, and it was long before I became a priest."

We are ready to roll now. I'll do the intro then switch to you.

Good Evening everyone, I'm Layla Hart and this is After Dark, I'm here with Father Peter Margate, Father Margate is from Australia and has recently been promoted several times to a position in the Vatican that has some people speculating that Father Peter Margate could, in fact, become the first Australian to be considered a favoured candidate to become the next Pope.

"Father Margate, if I may, in view of the unprecedented media exposure being given to the topic I thought our viewers might be interested in what you might think about rumours that the Church is soft on paedophile priests and brothers, allowing them to keep doing what they are doing by moving them about each time an accusation surfaces, or paying victims off, what are your thoughts on that."

"Well Layla, let me answer your question this way. We've done done research and the incidence in the priesthood is not much higher than that in the general population on average."

"That may or may not be the case, but don't you think your parishioners would be entitled to think that priests should have a much lower incidence of paedophile behaviour than that found in the general population?"

"Some people, maybe, but priests are only human . . . "

"If, as many believe, you were to become the Pontiff, the first Australian Pope, given the number of people that have come forward in Australia, what would you do about all the priests that have been accused of child molesting. What would you do about it?"

"What you say cannot come to pass, I am in an arm of the Church from which it is impossible to be selected as a candidate for the papacy. To be elected Pope, you must usually first become a Cardinal, and that cannot happen in my case. Can we move on?"

"You are not without tragedy in your life I believe. You were in love once, with the girl next door but she died of an overdose of drugs, then your friend, her twin sister had a son, Carter Cheval, as we all know was shot and killed in a drive by shooting in Sydney a couple of years ago, then his grandmother, who recently came to see you, I believe died in a car accident in Paris, in the same tunnel as Princess Di . . , "

"Is there a question coming?" Peter said with a touch of annoyance.

"Yes, sorry, how do you reconcile all this, plus all the molesting and abuse of children with a just and fair God that the Catholic Church now preaches about. I believe you call it the Green God as opposed to the Red God of generations past. The fire and brimstone God of judgement and damnation, how do you think that God would punish your priests that molest children, that's the question those inside and outside your Church are asking?"