"Has the penitent ever refused to do so?"

"Never."

"But if ... if the case were such as made it difficult for the penitent

to reveal the conspiracy to the civil authorities, having regard to the

penalties the revelation would bring with it ... if by reason of ties of

blood and affection such revelation were humanly impossible, and it

would even be cruel to ask for it, what would you do then?"

"Nothing, your Holiness."

"Not even if the crime to be committed were a serious one, and it

touched you very nearly?"

The Capuchin shook out his coloured print handkerchief and said, "That

could make no difference, your Holiness."

"But suppose you heard in confession that your brother is to be

assassinated, what is your duty?"

"My duty to the penitent who reveals his soul to me is to preserve his

secret."

"And what is your duty to God?"

The handkerchief dropped from the Capuchin's hand.

The Pope paused, scraped the gravel with the ferrule of his stick, and

said: "Father, I am in the position of the confessor who has guilty knowledge

of a conspiracy against the life of his enemy."

The Capuchin pushed his handkerchief into his sleeve and dropped back

into his seat. After a moment the Pope told the story of what Roma had

said of Rossi's plans abroad.

"A conspiracy," he said, "plainly a conspiracy."

"And what do you understand the conspiracy to be?"

"Who can say? Perhaps a recurrence to the custom of the Middle Ages,

when citizens who had been banished by their opponents used to apply

themselves in exile to attempt the reconquest of their country by

stirring up the factions at home."

"You think that is Rossi's object?"

"I do."

The Capuchin shifted uneasily the skull-cap on his crown and said: "Holy Father, I trust your Holiness will leave the matter alone."

"Why so?"

"In reading history I do not find that such enterprises have usually

been successful. I see, rather, how commonly they have failed. And if it

was so in the Middle Ages when the arts of war were primitive, how much

less likely are the conspiracies of secret societies, the partial and

superficial risings of refugees, to be serious now in the days of

standing armies."

"True. But is that a good reason for doing nothing in this instance?"

"But, Holy Father, think. You cannot disclose the secrets this poor lady

has revealed to you. Her confession was only a confidence, but your

Holiness knows well that there is such a thing as a natural secret which

it would be a great fault to reveal. Facts which of their own nature are

confidential belong to this order. They are assimilated to the

confessional, and as such they should be respected."




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024