Chapter 5

The Vatican, State of the Vatican City.

Night was already beginning to fall when Cardinal Agnello received a W******p message on his phone. He opened the app and looked at the images he had just received, along with a message that said, “The target is the boy in jeans and a light blue shirt. At his side, in the first photo, the father, and in the following with the protector and some of his friends.” Agnello detailed the photos, in some of them a boy of about eleven or twelve years old was seen, accompanied by an adult man, in others with a younger one, and in the last one with other children of the same age. Agnello recognized Dr. Hansen’s face from the reports of the investigator hired to locate him, but he never presented any of the boy, so he assumed that the one in jeans and a light blue shirt that the investigator mentioned must be him. He looked like a normal child, who shared with his friends and was happy.

He was sitting behind his desk in his office, got up, and went in search of Cardinal Nitti to show him the evidence they were waiting for and that they finally had. When he got to Nitti’s office, he showed him the photos. This one was somewhat skeptical.

"Can we be sure it’s him?"

"I have no reason to doubt the investigator," Agnello told him.

Nitti was silent, thinking.

"Will we then tell His Holiness that we have already managed to locate the clone child?" Agnello asked him.

After a few seconds Nitti returned the cell phone, he did not want to hide from the Pope that he knew where the child was, but he did not want him to continue to be enthusiastic about the idea of ​​meeting him; it was something he refused to even consider. For him that child is not Jesus of Nazareth, he is not holy, and to consider him as such would be a mortal sin that would surely not have God’s forgiveness. The Pope’s attitude bothered him enormously, and no matter how much he advised him not to recognize anything divine in the child, he continued with the idea of ​​knowing him, and that exasperated him.

He had no choice but to tell him the location of the boy. He also decided to continue insisting that he give up meeting him, perhaps he will achieve his mission.

"We cannot lie to His Holiness," he said at last. “Let’s go to his office.”

They left his office in search of the Pope’s. They were in the western part of the apostolic palace, and to get to the papal apartment they would have to go through several rooms for a few minutes. As it was almost night, there were no staffs in the rooms, so the tour was a little faster.

Cardinal Donaldo Fernandes, originally from Praia, capital of Cape Verde, was elected Pope by the conclave when his predecessor died of a heart attack, thus becoming the first black Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, and adopting the name of Benito I Born into a very humble family in Praia, Fernandes had a very prominent ecclesiastical activity, beginning his theological studies in Sebikotane, Senegal, where he was sent after obtaining his bachelor’s degree. In the mid-1970s he was sent to complete his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained his degree in theology. Several years later he would obtain a master’s degree also in theology at St. Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary in Rensselaer, New York, then returning to his native Cape Verde. He was ordained a priest in his hometown when he was only twenty-four years old. At the beginning of the eighties he was appointed archbishop by Pope John Paul II, directing the episcopal conference of his country, and by the end of the nineties he was appointed Cardinal. He led several councils before the conclave appointed him pope, including the Council for Justice and Peace, the Council for the Laity, and the Council for Christian Unity. He learned to speak fluent English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Hebrew, and Portuguese, which is his native language. He was never considered papable, until he had an outstanding performance as president of the Councils and member of the Roman Curia, and as there were no other candidates with the necessary charisma among the Catholic population. It is said in the Vatican that there have only been two Popes with such overwhelming charisma: John Paul II and now Benito I.

He had been Pope for three years, during which time he dared to speak and publicly reflect on controversial issues such as abortion, homosexuality and child sexual abuse, to the point of writing an encyclical on the latter topic, where he drew the attention of the bishops of the world and firmly condemned pederasty in the Catholic Church, considering that those who practiced it had strayed from the way of the Lord and sinned so deeply that they deserved to be excommunicated and execrated by society, regardless of the reasons or psychological motives that may have led to it. His harsh words had so much influence that the whole world was unleashed like never before in the renunciation of the habits of priests, bishops and other exponents of religion, some for having practiced it, and others for having covered it up, considering themselves accomplices of the crime. The collective conscience of the practitioners of the faith had finally awakened around the issue, and it can be said that, thanks to Benito I, the abominable and perverse practice was practically banished in the Catholic Church. His predecessor had apologized to the victims and their families for these crimes, and brought hundreds of pedophile priests and their cover-up bishops to justice. Benito I had eliminated her, or so it seemed.

But now the reason for his musings and prayers was another: the clone child of Jesus. Six years ago, when the news was revealed that a scientist had achieved the feat, his first reaction was skepticism, since there were many expert voices on the subject who exposed that it was practically impossible to achieve because they did not have the complete genetic sequence to reconstruct the DNA of Jesus. Little by little his skepticism was replaced by doubt, and after reflecting on the subject, he gradually became infected with the euphoria that had arisen throughout the world for knowing and have news about the clone child, who, despite the commotion, was not publicly known yet. His curiosity and animosity was so great that he brought his concerns to the Pope, who at first had not given the issue due importance, but who eventually gave in to his arguments and decided to request the President of the United States to send it to him for interact with him. As such request was never answered due to the new disappearance of the child, Fernandes decided not to insist again with the Pope, and the issue was gradually forgotten over time.

But now he is the Pope, the highest figure of the Catholic Church worldwide, and as such he once again considered the possibility of having the clone child by his side, but this time not to study him or determine if his holy blood makes him special or not; this time he was thinking that the clone child could play an important role in the future of humanity, a role that perhaps achieves what many have not achieved throughout history, and that is precisely reconciliation and world peace.

At times he came to think perhaps he was making false illusions and sinning optimist, or perhaps he was weaving childish dreams that will never materialize, but the mere fact of wanting to pacify the world was more than enough reason to try locate the clone child and turn him into the medium for it, and that is why he decided to try to locate him by hiring professional help. He was absorbed in this and other thoughts when there was a knock on his office door. They were Cardinals Agnello and Nitti.

"Sir, we have good news for you," Agnello told him, once they were positioned in front of him at the desk, while the Pope did not stop writing in a small notebook. "The investigator has managed to locate Dr. Hansen and the child."

Fernandes looked up and fixed his eyes on his interlocutor, over the formulated lenses. For a few seconds it seemed to Agnello that his eyes were trying to search his soul, the Pope already had a very deep look, and sometimes made him uncomfortable when he stared at it. That was one of those occasions, and he tried to shake off the awkwardness by entertaining him with his cell phone, which he handed over asking him to look at some pictures.

"Di Berardino followed the trail to Argentina," Nitti said. “They are in Buenos Aires, in a town called San Isidro. They seem to live a very normal life, as you can see in those photos.”

Fernandes was reviewing the photos, visibly moved.

"And which one is our boy?"

"The one in jeans and a light blue shirt," Agnello replied.

The Pope stopped his gaze on the boy who was pointed out to him, detailing it, and even zoomed in on the photo to see him better.

"He’s a healthy and beautiful boy," he commented almost in a whisper. “Is Di Berardino sure it’s him?”

Agnello and Nitti exchanged a quick glance before the latter answered.

"Yes, Your Holiness, he is sure. He has been tracking them for the last two years, and this week he has verified their identities, false of course, but it is them, without a doubt.”

Fernandes stared at the photograph for a few more seconds before handing the phone back to Agnello. He leaned back in his chair and looked at them intently, thinking.

"Di Berardino is waiting for orders," Nitti told him. “What are you going to do?”

Agnello rushed to intervene, clearing his throat briefly.

"Your Holiness, before you make a decision, allow me to restate my point of view regarding the clone child. I consider that...”

"You have already given me your point of view, Cardinal Agnello, and very reliably," Fernandes interrupted. “Our views may be very different regarding this child, but we must not rule out knowing and interacting with him, after all he has holy blood ...”

“But from doubtful origin and strange manipulation, beyond what is naturally essential. An aberration of man and an abomination of science, which breaks the laws of God and nature ...”

Fernandes raised his hand, asking him to stop his hasty speech, and immediately rose from his chair, coming out from behind the large desk and walking around it to face them. He was about to take one of his kindest and most sincere stances when dealing with sensitive issues, treating the cardinals as friends and family and calling them by name.

“We cannot affirm or deny that this child is everything you say, brother Pietro, just because it was "conceived" in an "unconventional" way. Nor can we judge the mysterious ways in which our Lord works. It is true that the sacred scriptures tell us something very specific regarding what the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ will be, and we are not the one to deny them either, because we would sin in the worst way.”

Fernandes paused, inviting them to sit on a sofa to his left, which the three of them did. After a few seconds he resumed his idea:

"He’s just a boy. It shouldn’t matter to us how he came to this world. In addition, for us he has holy blood, even if we have no proof of it, beyond the "failed attempt" to steal the sudarium of San Salvador and the loss of a tiny part of it. For us he will be a clone of Jesus, and that will be enough for the world to believe it too, and we will thus be able to take advantage of it for humanity.”

Agnello and Nitti looked at each other for a few seconds, showing in their eyes they did not fully understand the Pope’s words.

"Take advantage of it, Your Holiness?" Nitti was the first to react. "What do you mean?”

Fernandes smiled slightly again.

"What is the greatest desire of the human race, brother Luigi? What is it that great men have ever dreamed of and have never managed to make come true?”

Cardinal Luigi Nitti thought for a few seconds and when he was about to answer, Fernandes interrupted him:

"Exactly! The longing of great men and common men, of fathers and mothers who suffer when their children go to war, or their families are victims of war: peace! That word so easy to put on paper but so difficult to achieve in a sentence. My wish too, and surely yours and that of all of us who live here in these lands. Perhaps God worked in this mysterious way with this child for that, to achieve, or at least try to achieve, world peace. He would be a very effective means of achieving the great changes humanity needs, if he is used well and trained for it.”

This time it was Agnello who reacted, smiling slightly in the middle of a sigh:

"With all due respect, Your Holiness, but I don’t think that’s possible. First of all, I have to remind you that the Catholic is not the only religion in this world, and in some places there are wars precisely for religious or territorial reasons. I don’t see how this child could achieve world peace. Your posture seems to me a bit ... let’s say "innocent" in this case.”

Fernandes smiled wider this time.

"You are giving me the reason, brother Pietro. We need the innocence in each one of us to reflect on the great problems we are suffering; looking at things through the eyes of a child. Haven’t you ever seen how two little children, one white and one colored, hug and play together no matter what they look like or what religion their parents have? They don’t have prejudices; they don’t see things like we adults do ...”

“But when they grow up they do, they will see each other as they really are, and they will irretrievably separate. This clone child is also growing up, and he is no longer such a child as we say, he is almost a teenager ...”

“And that’s where we fail, even men of religion like us. Saint John Paul II visited a mosque I don’t know how many times, and that didn’t make him less Catholic. Men like Ghandi or Mandela; women like Malala or Mother Teresa dared to think differently and that is what we need! People who go further, who guide humanity to a better world, and we can do that with this child, if we do things well with him.”

“And wouldn’t we be influencing him by being Catholic? It would be better if we let him go on his way, to see if he becomes for himself what you expect of him. If he really has holy blood and a mission in this world, he will carry it out on his own.”

"You may be right, brother Pietro, but first we must get to know him well and determine whether he is going that way or not. And if he hasn’t figure it out yet, make sure he takes it in the future. Be that as it may, he must play an important role in the future of humanity, as he is here.”

“And then what should we do?” Nitti asked.

“Tell Di Berardino to make contact, and to try to convince them to come here, to assure them that they will be treated well and they will not be held by force. Tell them that we just want to meet the boy. It’s the only thing we want. If necessary, I will speak to them myself to convince them.

"Very well," Agnello said, not quite convinced, "it will be done as you wish, Your Holiness."

A few hours later, the bishop of Buenos Aires gave them the news that the priest of San Isidro had surrendered to the Argentine justice system, confessing to having abused at least fifteen local children for years.

New York, USA.

Mark and Doris were already at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, in Queens, to board their flight to the city of Buenos Aires. They had packed up quickly and booked on the next available flight as they didn’t want to waste time starting their search for Dr. Hansen and Joseph. Also, they didn’t want to give Richmond a chance to follow them, if he intended to.

They decided to take a flight from Aerolíneas Argentinas and not from a North American one, thinking it would be a little more difficult for him to move his influences in that company, given that the government of that country, with a socialist tendency, had significantly reduced relations with that of the United States.

“What will we do when we get there?” Doris asked, once inside the aircraft. Mark didn’t bother to look at her, as he tucked the pillow behind his head, preparing to sleep on the journey.

"I wonder you ask that, Miss Ventura," he finally told her, closing his eyes. “Should I remind you that we are detectives?”

Doris settled back in her seat, thinking. She did not want to admit it, but she was not sure of the next actions to take when they arrived in Argentina. It scared her to think she was losing her investigative skills.