The Shroud Codex - Jerome R. Corsi [42]
Since he took Father Bartholomew as a patient, Castle had studied enough about Padre Pio on the Internet to realize that Padre Pio had manifested stigmata for what amounted to around four decades. At fifty-four years old, Castle did not have four decades left for active psychiatric practice. Besides, a million dollars was a lot of money, but even a million dollars did not pay for decades of analysis with a priest who was determined to act out for the rest of his life the passion and death of Jesus Christ. Bartholomew was yet a young man. Castle wanted to know what was going on with him right now, not after the years of psychoanalysis it might take to cure him, if he could be cured at all.
“Committing Father Bartholomew will cause a lot of attention, too, especially after the reports on the stigmata begin circulating,” he said. “Besides, I’m scheduled to see Father Bartholomew in my office on Monday. Let’s give it until then.”
Reluctantly, the archbishop agreed. “We’ll leave it in God’s hands, then,” he resolved.
“At least for now,” Castle said. “But I share your concern. With the media publicity Father Bartholomew is already getting, this is not going to be a case confined to New York City for long.”
“Next thing we know, people are going to be camping outside the church all night, just to get in to see Father Bartholomew,” Duncan said. “From there, word of mouth will take over and we will have people all over the country—probably all over the world—following what happens at St. Joseph’s. How many people do you think there are with cancer in this city that would like an instant cure? If there’s one, there’s thousands and pretty soon they will all be demanding to see Father Bartholomew in the confessional.”
“Wait until Fernando Ferrar catches on to the Shroud,” Castle noted. “When he figures out how much Bartholomew looks like the Shroud, it will be the perfect story to go viral on the Internet. All it would take is for Ferrar to do another YouTube video about Father Bartholomew, Jesus, and the Shroud of Turin to add to the videos on the Internet showing Father Bartholomew getting the stigmata while saying Mass.”
“No need to wait,” the archbishop said with a tone of resignation. “The videos showing how much Father Bartholomew and the man in the Shroud of Turin look alike are already running on the Internet. Just go to YouTube and search Father Bartholomew’s name. You will find one running that’s particularly well done. By my count, a half million people have already viewed it.”
“This case just gets bigger and bigger,” Castle said, amused.
CHAPTER TEN
Sunday evening
St. Joseph’s Parish
Day 11
Outside St. Joseph’s the street scene was mayhem. People were running from the church screaming. “Get help quick” summed up the panic as people dialed 911 on their cell phones. Inside, the faithful who had lined up to have their confessions heard by Father Bartholomew stood up or kneeled in bewilderment, worried that the collapsed priest lying on the church floor had died. Dozens of people were recording the scene on cell phone videos, determined to be the first to broadcast Father Bartholomew’s collapse to their friends or to the world via the Internet. Outside, hundreds who had lined up around the block, waiting for their confessions to be heard, started pushed their way inside, determined to get a look for themselves before the miracle priest died.
“You’ve got to get over here right now,” Morelli insisted to Dr. Castle on his cell phone. Morelli’s voice sounded panicked.
“Slow down,” Dr. Castle said, trying to get Father Morelli to calm down enough to explain what’s going on. “Where are you and what’s happening?”
“I’m at St. Joseph’s. Bartholomew is unconscious. He was hearing confessions again tonight and he had some kind of seizure. Evidently, he staggered out of the confessional and collapsed on the church floor. There were a lot of people in the church waiting to go to confession and there’s