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.Cardinal Jung snorted.“Every Protestant movement thinks it will have strength enough to bring the Church down, and not one has succeeded.”“True, the Church has endured every assault from outside its precincts,” said Greene, nudging McEllton as if they could share the joke between them.“But this time it isn’t Protestants you have to fear, it is your own elected Pope.”* * *The Houston riot was the worst in the USA.Windows on the conspicuously modern Cathedral Church of the Four Evangelists were broken and graffiti were scrawled on the walls over the murals of the Stations of the Cross.The baptismal font was filled with excrement and a dead piglet covered in sweet-and-sour sauce was left on the altar.All the details from the seven wounded priests, to the dead police officers, to three hundred forty-four arrested rioters, were gleefully and meticulously covered on the international news, since the Four Evangelists was Charles, Cardinal Mendosa’s home base.All of the reports stressed Cardinal Mendosa’s role in the recent efforts of the Vatican to locate the new Pope.All but one news report mentioned he was currently in China; the report which left this out originated in Beijing.In Hongya, Mendosa watched the coverage on television with Zhuang Renxin and Willie Foot as they sat in her office chaperoned by an army lieutenant who was doing his best to be invisible.The Cardinal’s expression was set but saddened steadily as he saw his beloved cathedral trashed.He ground his teeth and said little.“Is this what I am to expect when I go to Rome?” Zhuang Renxin asked as the report concluded.She was not angry, but she expected an explanation.“And these riots are going to continue?”“That was Houston, in Texas.Not Rome,” Mendosa told her.“But I won’t deny it could happen.If there’s trouble, there’s the Swiss Guard to protect you—not the ones in the Renaissance costumes; they’re there for the tourists—the real Vatican police.We have very good security at the Vatican.They can handle worse than that.” He listened to Willie translate and realized he had picked up a few more words of Chinese.He noticed that the lieutenant was nodding very slightly, revealing his comprehension.“I am very distressed by what I have seen,” said Magistrate Zhuang.“No more than I, Worthy Magistrate,” Mendosa responded.He looked at Willie.“Keep an ear open for me as the reports come in, will you? I want to know if Father Cooke comes through this all right.They said he was in critical condition, didn’t they?”“Yes,” said Willie, knowing Mendosa well enough to be aware of how upset he was under his controlled exterior, and worried for him.“He’s a good man.And a pretty good priest.Tad Cooke.He must be sixty-five now.The kids love him.He’s good at sports and telling jokes.He never talks down to them.Why did he have to be the one to get a fractured skull.God forgive me for the thought, but why couldn’t it have been Daniel Ritchie? He’s the one who’s always sending little missives to Vince Walgren, and he knows more about illegal drugs in Texas than all the law-enforcement squads rolled into one.” At that Mendosa crossed himself and laughed self-consciously.“I’ll have to do penance for that.None of them deserved the kind of treatment the mob dished out.And neither did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,” he added, referring once again to the cathedral.As Willie did his best to translate this, Zhuang Renxin held up her hand to make a point.“What is penance?” she asked.“Why must you do it for what you said about your friend Tad Cooke?”“Penance is what you do when you have sinned,” Mendosa said.“I told you about sin.”“Yes; the person who errs is one who sins,” said Zhuang.“I do not see why concern for your friend should be an error.”Mendosa, when he heard Willie’s translation, shook his head.“It’s a sin because I gave special consideration to one friend, and not to priests in general.To make it worse, I wished harm on a priest I dislike and distrust.Favor and disfavor in this situation is not appropriate.”“I know that the benefit of all is more significant than the benefit of one,” said Zhuang, “but I still fail to see why concern for your friend was an error, or why you would prefer ill befall one who is untrustworthy.If it were for me to decide as a Magistrate, I would not require you to do penance.I might ask that you do something to aid others in need as well as your friend, but I can see no good coming from penance for wishing your friend well.” She was puzzled by the strange look Mendosa gave her.“I do not mean—” she began, Willie striving to keep up with her.“If you tell me that I ought not do penance,” said Mendosa very slowly and carefully, “then I will not do it.You have not been elevated officially yet, because you have not had the tiara placed on your head, but Holiness, you are my superior, and I will follow your instruction.” He lowered his head while the television flashed on a picture of Moscow where it was rumored there had been an upheaval in the GRU.“I have told you I think it is foolish to call me ‘Holiness,’” said Zhuang severely.“You persist in calling me ‘Holiness.’”“It is your title now,” Mendosa said to her.“But I will offer you this compromise: when we are private I will still call you Worthy Magistrate.” He was pleased at her approving nod.“Listen to me, Zhuang Renxin,” he went on more urgently, “with the others, accept the title, insist on it.You may not believe in it, you may not like it, but if you do not use it, you will lose the respect of the Cardinals, and that will be difficult to maintain as it is.Give them no opportunity to denigrate your position, because once you do, you will be at their mercy.”“But you have said that the Pope is the final authority,” said Zhuang in consternation.“Yes.” Mendosa tried to explain without getting into particulars.He would be able to do that later, while they traveled to Rome.“But Popes come and go.The College of Cardinals and the Curia endure.They can be very patient, because—”“Because in time I will die, and they will find someone who is more what they want?” she asked.“Charles,” said Willie when he had translated her question, “she is headed back into deep water again.”“Yes, I know,” said Mendosa.“Tell her this.The Princes of the Church are very powerful men.They are ambitious.”“And you?” asked Zhuang when Mendosa’s words were translated.“I understood that,” Mendosa told Willie.“Yes, Holiness, I am ambitious.I want power.But there are two kinds of power, Worthy Magistrate
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