The Seville Communion Read Online Free PDF Page B

for an answer. "But about that unfortunate business in Rio, you know the Almighty works in mysterious ways. It was just bad luck."
    "Luck or not, Monsignor, it's a fact. It happened. And some day I may have to answer for what I did."
    "When that day comes, God will judge you as he judges all of us. Until then - only in official matters, of course - you know you have my general absolution, sub conditione”
    He raised one of his large hands in a brief gesture of blessing. Quart smiled.
    "I'll need more than that. But can Your Grace assure me that we would do the same today?" "By ‘we' do you mean the Church?"
    "I mean the Institute for External Affairs. Would we be quite so quick now to bring those three heads on a tray to Cardinal Iwaszkiewicz?"
    "I don't know. A strategy consists of tactics." The prelate broke off, looking worried, and glanced sharply at Quart. "I hope none of this will affect your work in Seville."
    "It won't. At least I don't think so. But you did ask me to speak frankly."
    "Listen. You and I are both career churchmen. But Iwaszkicwicz has either bought or intimidated everyone in the Vatican." He looked around, as if the Pole might appear at any moment. "Only the IEA hasn't yet fallen into his hands. The Secretary of State, Azopardi, went to college with me. He's the only one who still puts in a good word for us to the Holy Father."
    "You have many friends, Your Grace. You've done favours for a lot of people."
    Spada laughed sceptically. "In the Curia, favours are forgotten and slights remembered. We live in a court of tattling eunuchs, where promotion comes only with the support of others. Everyone rushes to stab a fallen man, but otherwise nobody dares do anything. Remember when Pope Luciani died: to determine the hour of death it was necessary to take his temperature but nobody had the guts to stick a thermometer in his rectum."
    "But the Cardinal Secretary of State . . ."
    The Mastiff shook his bristly head. "Azopardi is my friend, but only in the sense that the word has here. He has to look out for his own interests. Iwaszkiewicz is very powerful." He fell silent for a few moments, as if weighing Iwaszkiewicz's power against his own. "Even the hacker is a minor matter," he said at last. "At any other time it wouldn't have occurred to them to give us this job. Strictly speaking, it's a matter for the archbishop of Seville and the parishioners of his diocese. But with the situation as it is, the slightest thing gets blown out of all proportion. The Holy Father shows an interest, and it's enough to set off another round of internal reprisals. So I've chosen the best man for the job. What I need above all is information. We need to present a report this thick"- he held his thumb and index finger five centimetres apart - "which leaves us looking good. Let them see that we're doing something. It'll satisfy His Holiness and keep the Pole quiet."
    A group of Japanese tourists peered inside the cafe admiringly. A few of them smiled and bowed politely when they saw the priests. Monsignor Spada smiled back absently.
    "I think highly of you, Father Quart," he went on. "That's why I'm letting you know what's at stake here, before you leave for Seville ... I don't know whether you're always 'the good soldier', but you've never given me reason to think otherwise. I've kept an eye on you since you were a student at the Gregorian University, and I've grown fond of you. Which may cost you dear, because if I fall from grace some day, you'll be dragged down with me. Or you might go first. You know how it is, the pawns are sacrificed."
    Quart nodded, impassive. "What if we win?"
    "We'll never really win. As your fellow countryman Saint Ignatius Loyola would have said, we've chosen what God has to spare and others don't want: torment and struggle. Our victories only postpone the next attack. Iwaszkiewicz will be a cardinal for the rest of his life, a prince by protocol, a bishop whose investiture is irrevocable, a citizen