Acts of Faith (60 page)

“I think I can handle myself,” Tim replied. “Where can I change?”

“In there,” Eli pointed to the bedroom. “Do you need to borrow anything?”

“No, thanks.” He suddenly smiled. “In fact I’ve got an outfit that’ll knock your socks off.”

“Don’t tell me,” the boy scoffed. “Your archbishop’s suit?”

“Better than that. You’ll see.”

Moments later, Tim reemerged in the shiny blue uniform of the Brazilian soccer team. As the boy gasped, “Wow,” the door opened.

“Eli,” Deborah began. “What’s going on? Whose car is that—?”

And then she saw him.

“My God.”

They stared at each other. There were no words. Even after all this time, each knew exactly what the other was thinking.

“Deborah,” he whispered at last. “You can’t know how many times I’ve dreamed of this moment.”

“Me too,” she answered softly. “Only I didn’t think it would be in this world.” She turned to her son. “Have you met—”

“This is stupid,” Eli cut her off, in a blustering attempt
to disguise his feelings. “I’m going to get the hell out of here before things get too sentimental.”

He raced out, trying to hold back his own tears.

They were alone. The two of them, after a million days and nights.

“Deborah, he’s wonderful. You should be very proud.”

“And you—?”

“Do I have the right? Love has to be earned. I haven’t exactly been a frequent visitor.”

“You never left my thoughts,” she said, unafraid.

“Nor you mine,” he confessed. “And I finally decided not to take the risk.…”

“What do you mean?”

“The leap of faith—the hope of being with you in the next life. I’d trade it all for being here right now.” He hesitated, then asked, “Do you think we can start again?”

“No, my beloved.” She smiled. “We’ll just continue.”

In the beginning there were words. Too many of them—and all in the wrong places. Linda Grey somehow found time while running a publishing house to put order into the chaos of my original manuscript. She is a brilliant and imaginative editor.

All roads may lead to Rome—and Jerusalem, for that matter. But they only bring you to the gates. I owe many debts to people who gave me access literally and spiritually to these great citadels of religion.

His Eminence Roger Cardinal Etchegaray, President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, welcomed a stranger to the Vatican, affording me a picture of life at the center of power I could not otherwise have obtained. His resourceful assistant, Sister Marjorie Keegan, provided informative documents while at the same time proving a surprising treasury of anecdotes about New York Jewish life.

Father Jacques Roubert, S.J., Regional Secretary in the Western European Assistancy of the General Curia, welcomed me to the world Jesuit headquarters at 5 Borgo Santo Spirito and gave me an understanding of the Society of Jesus that added a third dimension to everything I subsequently read.

I am grateful to Mishkenot Sha’ananim, a very special
haven for those in the Arts, for allowing me to be their guest and absorb the unique atmosphere of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Hugo Gryn and his former associate, Rabbi Larry Tabick, read through the drafts to ferret out doctrinal lapses. I was reassured on certain points by Rabbi Doctor Louis Jacobs. Needless to say, any errors that remain are the result of my own stubbornness or carelessness.

Reverend Donald Doherty, M.M., of the Maryknoll Society and Reverend Michael Hilbert, S.J., of the Gregorian University provided helpful information regarding education for the priesthood.

The astonishing lapse from celibacy among the American Catholic clergy is documented by A. W. Richard Sipe in
A Secret World: Sexuality and the Search for Celibacy
, New York 1990.

I am also grateful to Reverend Edgar Wells, Rector of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, New York City, and Miss Susan Rybarchyk for the Protestant viewpoint on certain issues; Ms. Irma Rabino and Rabbi Rhonda Nebel of the Jewish Theological Seminary (where I myself was briefly a student in the early 1950s); and Dr. Philip Miller and Ms. Sylvia Posner of Hebrew Union College.

Mr. Peter Govett and Mr. Howard Levine provided invaluable financial expertise. I am also indebted to Rita Antilety, Reverend Malcolm Foster, Don Galligan, Tonya Gomez, and Professor T. J. Luce.

I have had the privilege of talking to many truly remarkable individuals who confided their experiences to me, seminarians who understandably wish to remain anonymous and various members of the American Catholic Establishment, among them one whose pedigree includes the first American Catholic bishop as well as the first American-born saint, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Courtney—formerly Father Pat and Sister Margarita—shared with me their story of faith and love, which deserves a volume of its own.

It would be impossible to list a full bibliography of everything I consulted during the four years I spent writing this book. But I should signal my debt to the
Catholic Encyclopedia
and the
Encyclopaedia Judaica
, Penny Lernoux’s
People of God
,
The Jesuits
by Malachi Martin, and Hayyim Schauss’s
The Lifetime of a Jew.

And, of course, the most important book of all, the Holy Bible.

E
RICH
S
EGAL
began his writing career with the phenomenally successful
Love Story.
He has written six other novels, including
The Class
, which was an international bestseller and won literary prizes in France and Italy.
Doctors
reached number one on the
New York Times
bestseller list. His latest book is
Prizes.
Erich Segal has also written widely on Greek and Latin literature—subjects he has taught at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Oxford. He is married and has two daughters.