My German Lover, Part 20, chapter 2

Then, the Vicar gave back the letter to Paul and, looking at him straight in the eyes, he said:

"...Those are very harsh words! I'll have to pray for your mother..."

"...And what about me? Am I going to eternally rot in hell?"

"...What about that German officer she's speaking about?"

"...It's true, Father! He's German! But he's not a Nazi... Not at all! He hates Hitler as much as I do... And I'm not a traitor, just because I love someone who happens to be German! All Germans are not Nazis, and all Germans are not bad... just a few of them... And Will is not one of those! He's a fine man! And I love my country: I would give my life to save it, I swear to God!"

The Vicar smiled, and said:

"...Now... calm down, son... I believe you! And you're quite right: All Germans are not bad... And no... you will not rot in hell because of your homosexuality..."

"... But the Bible says so... and so does the Pope!"

The Vicar raised his eyes, and looked at Paul straight in the eyes, then asked him:

"Have you ever read the Bible?"

"...No!"

"You should!", the Vidar answered, grinning...

"(...)"

"You see, son, contrary to what most people believe, the Bible is not "ONE" book... it contains seventy-two different books...

Forty-five of these books are called the "Old Testament", while twenty-seven of them constitute what we call the "New Testament...

Now, the term "Old Testament" refers to all versions and translations of the Old Hebrew Bible...

Who wrote what? and When? And who translated what, and when? We don't know...

And when you --or your mother-- say homosexuality is condemned by the Bible, you're wrong! It's condemned in ONE passage of ONE of these seventy-two old books...

As I said, these books were written long before the birth of Jesus... and if you read them... or at least most of them... you'll be disgusted! They speak about war... about so many battles, I've lost count of them! Blood is flowing like rivers... people are slaughtered... It's one massacre after another...

And according to these books, it's perfectly normal for a man to have as many wives as he wants... and he can repudiate them, if he wants to... No problem! He can sell them... he can kill them, or have them pelt with stones...

OH! And slavery is perfectly normal... And indeed, all of those who, until recently, were in favour of slavery, used to quote the Old Testament to make their point! Now, do you think slavery is okay?"

"...Of course not!", Paul answered...

"...See? (...) We have to be very, very careful when we read these old books... I read them... I even spent years, studying them, and I tell you: I'm staying as far away from them as I can! And I would never, ever quote them to make a point! And most certainly, I didn't become a priest, because of the Old Testament!

"Oh?"

"If you really want to read something useful, read the New Testament... Read what Jesus said and preached... The only thing he talked about was LOVE! He never condemned anyone... And in fact, when a crowd wanted to lapidate a poor woman, because she had commited adultery, he stopped them from doing so. He simply looked at the crowd and said: "He, who has never sin, trows the first stone..."

And of course, they all left...

But by doing what he did, Jesus went against what is written in the Old Testament, since that form of punishment is clearly authorized by the old books...

No! I tell you, son: I became a priest because of what Jesus teached us: Love! And Jesus doesn't condemn you for what you are... He Loves you! He created you the way you are! How could he hate you? And if some people say it isn't so, let them say whatever they want: They are bigots! And remember son: Never argue with bigots... they are not worth it..."

"Nevertheless, the Pope condemns me..."

"No! He condemns homosexuality... not you!"

"What's the difference? I mean..."

"Oh, but there is a big difference, son! The Pope also condemns... say... gluttony... but that doesn't mean you'll be excommunicated, just because you ate too much..." the Vicar said, laughing... "Of course, son... I'm a member to the Church, and I won't speak against Rome! But remember: Years ago, Rome condemned Galileo, because he had said Earth was round..." (...) You're laughing, now?"

"Well... I mean..."

"Yes!, But I'm telling you: At the time, Galileo wasn't laughing..."

"No, I can imagine...", Paul answered, grinning...

"So you see... The Church is not perfect, because we, human beings, are not perfect... we are only perfectible... So when you go to sleep tonight, don't worry about hell! Only Hitler will go there... and I'm not even sure of that, for God is so merciful! (...) Now, I don't know about you... but I'm starving...", the Vicar said, laugning...

Paul bursted out laughing and, together, they walked over to the dining-room, where they ate plenty...

"...Some wine, Father?", Paul asked the Vicar...

"...I thought you'd never asked!", the vicar answered, laughing...

That night, after the Vicar had left, Paul gave Will a call, to let him know everything was fine...

"...I'm so glad to hear your voice, Paul... I love you so much! When are you coming back?"

"...I don't know yet... In a day or two, maybe...I have a few things to do here, before I leave..."

"You should come back as soon as possible... Franz has another message for you... It's from your father!"

"Shit!"

"No, no... Although he refused to tell me what it was, Franz said you would like it..."

"... Do you have that message with you?"

"No. Franz kept it. He said he's under strict orders not to give it to anyone else but you..."

Paul grinned, thinking that Franz was indeed a very good friend... Then he said:

"I'll be back tomorrow... and Will?"

"Yes?"

"I love you..."

"I love you too... so much!"

"See you tomorrow... Night Will!"

"Night Paul!"

The day after, when Paul got back home, Will was waiting for him...

When Paul opened the door, Will took him into his arms, and the two lovers started crying, then kissing...

"...I've missed you so much...", Will said...

"I've missed you too... but I had to go, do you understand?"

"...As long as you're back, I'm not asking myself that kind of questions..." Will answered, smiling...

Then, Paul told him everything about the discussion he had had with the Vicar...

"...He's a wise Man!", Will said... "He's wrong about one thing, though..."

"What?"

"...Hitler will rot in hell!"

They bursted out laughing and, after a while, Paul said to Will:

"...Let's give Franz a call: I want to read my father's message..."

Later that night, Franz came with the message and, as he was about to leave, Paul told him:

"Where the hell do you think you're going like that?"

"...I wanted to leave you two alone..."

"Sit right there, mister! You're my friend... I want you here with us... We have nothing to hide from you..."

Franz sat, then waited for Paul to read the long message from his father.

Will was sitting right next to Paul, but he was not trying to read the message over Paul's shoulder. He was just nervously hoping for the best!

As Will and Franz were watching Paul, they saw tears in his eyes...

Then, Paul raised his head, and gave the long message to Will:

"Here... read it!", was all he could say...

Will took the message, and started reading it...

Paul's father was explaining he had just learned about his wife's message to Paul. He had not known about it, much less read it...

He said he loved his wife dearly, but that he also loved Paul... his dear son! For the first time in his life, he had to disagree with her on something important: He didn't share her views, and it was with a broken heart he had learned what she had said to Paul...

" Mon fils, je ne te juge pas!
Tu es mon fils, et tu le resteras toujours.
Quelque soient tes choix, je serai toujours avec toi!
Et je suis fière de porter ton nom!
Je t'aime, mon fils...
Et je serai toujours là pour toi!
Toujours!"

("My son, I'm not judging you"
You are my son, and you will always be!
Whatever your choices, I'll always be with you!
And I'm proud to bear your name.
I love you, son...
And I'll always be there for you!
Always!")

At the end of his letter, Paul's father was asking him to forgive his mother...

"That's a beatiful letter... beatiful...", Will said, with tears in his eyes...

"I love him so much! (...) I needed that message...", Paul answered...

"...I guess he's expecting a reply...", Franz said...

"Yes! I'll write it to you right now, so you can send it to him as soon as possible...