Luís Miguel Rocha
The Holy Bullet
Copyright © 2007 by Luis Miguel Rocha
Originally published in Portuguese by Paralelo 40, 2007
Translation © 2009 by Robin McAllister
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO
IOANNES PAULUS PP. II
KAROLJÓ ZEFWOJTYLA
May 18, 1920-April 2, 2005
To all men of faith.
– JC, February 26, 2007
No bullet can kill unless it is His will.
– SISTER LÚCIA, letter to Karol Wojtyla, April 1981
Hitler couldn’t have been as bad as they say. He couldn’t have killed six million. It couldn’t have been more than four.
– SAN JOSÉ MARÍA ESCRIVÁ DE BALAGUER, letter to the members of Opus Dei
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I am writing a book in which I will tell the whole truth. Until now I’ve told fifty different stories, all of which are false.
– MEHMET ALI AGĞCA, the Turk who shot Pope John Paul II, Anno Domini MMVII
Everything has a beginning.
The start, the departure point, the zero, Sunday, the starting gun, the sprouting seed pushing through the earth for light, the splash into water, the earliest heartbeat, the first word, the first stone of a village, villa, city, wall, house, palace, church, building. Of this building in an unnamed city. A luxury restaurant occupies the ground floor and basement, as indicated by the menu displayed at the side of the door. Its status is not openly announced to the world at large, but suggested by the tinted-glass doors, always closed, and by the haughtiness of the doorman, impeccably dressed in a burgundy uniform. The absence of prices on the menu and the many phrases in French are also a sign of its exclusiveness, even if the city is located on French soil, which is neither confirmed nor denied. What is certain is that this restaurant does not need to advertise any of its services, which, in itself, presupposes an exclusive clientele.