PRIVATE Duel of Faiths / Dialogue

[Father Jorge Cervantes]

Duel of Faiths - Dialogue​

Dramatis Personae:

Father Jorge Cervantes - Disillusioned priest.
Father August Tanner - Head of Holy Angels Church.
Saint George - The Warrior.
Saint Francis - The Beggar.

Night City. Inside Father Tanner's office, Holy Angels Church.

Father Tanner is sat in front of a desk. Father Jorge is sat on the other side.

"What have you done, Jorge..."


"What I must, Father Tanner."


"You shot someone. You killed someone."


"In self-defense."


"You are a priest, Jorge! You know full well of your duties to the Lord!"


Saint Francis enters scene, behind Father Jorge.


"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where these is hatred, let me sow love."


"The Scavengers would've killed the poor kid..."


"... I understand. It's a pity, Father. You'll have to be laicized."


"Laicized?"


"Yes. Again, it's a pity. I always liked your preaching..."


"It is poverty that accompanied Christ on the Cross"


"Laicized for defending a poor family? They would be dead if I didn't shoot them, Father"


"And yet, the Lord's altar can't be tarnished by blood"


"It would've been tarnished if I didn't act. If I didn't help treat the wounded. If I didn't use the Lord as my guidance on what to do"


"The Lord doesn't see homicide with grace, Father Jorge..."


Saint George enters the scene, behind Father Jorge


"I destroyed pagan deities with my faith, and only faith. Whole temples, whole religions. I did what was necessary, and when I prayed, a breeze of flame descended from the Heavens, and burned temples and pagans alike in Lybia."


"I did what was necessary. The Lord is peaceful, but battles nonetheless."


" ​And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet."


"The moment for battle has not yet come, Father."


"I believe it has."


"The Revelation of Jesus Christ?"


"Yes, soon all beings shall live eternally in the Kingdom of Heaven"


"Yes, and we must fight the fiercest battle to destroy the dragon and its corruption"


"Yes, Father. That's exactly my point. You know what I did in the past. I was... trained to do unbearable things in the military. I refused. I never killed anyone, and yet my actions in the military have resulted in so many deaths because of complacency"


"Only the poor meets their cross when the powerful has the coin to decide"


"They died for nothing, a fruitless death with no honour."


"When I accepted to preach in Night City, after the hell I've passed through... I thought I was serving a purpose. I thought I was something"


"The Beggar, to find the love of God through the love of poverty and devotion to all"


"The Warrior, to tread above snakes and scorpions, and find that nothing of the kind hurts your flesh"


"But all I've seen was corruption, misery and death. And the Church remains silent, Father. They have a place for the kinds of 6th street. Armed fascists."


"How many of our own will choose Barabbas instead of Christ!"


"Barabbas instead of Christ!"


'It is not our position to judge them!"


"The Lord is the Holy Judge. I am merely his instrument, and act through his preachings and his prophets'."


"How many people have died unnecessarily because of this very logic! And according to you, the Apocalypse is here. The White Hors-"


"The men I killed had a white horse."


"... For God's sake, Jorge. Get a hold of yourself."


"You haven't explained why the Church is open to gangsters and fascists, and yet is closed to the poor. Are we to remain silent while they're massacred? Are we to accept the unnatural corporations, destroying everything that is sacred until it becomes a mockery of what it really meant? The Inquisition, the Warsaw Church, they're wrong. Completely wrong, you know how I see them! But their hatred doesn't burn as much as our apathy!"


"Apathy is the killing of god's creation"


"Apathy is letting evil spread with no fight!"


"..."


"I killed those men. And by pulling the trigger, by saving this family, I achieved more peace than all my years preaching"


"The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today"


"Jerusalem must once again be ours."


"That's why I'm stepping out. I can't do this anymore. I'll serve the Lord in my own way."


"Father, this isn't right. We are neutral, to guide everyone in need of us."


"Come, son. The miserable await."


Exeunt Saint Francis


"They are in need of a warrior, son. Your faith shall be thy arrow"


Exeunt Saint George


"... Father, please..."


Exeunt Father Jorge


END SCENE