CHAPTER 100

After Silas accidentally shoots Bishop Aringarosa, Silas carries the wounded bishop through the rain, desperately calling for a hospital. Aringarosa wakes in Silas's arms and recognizes that both men have been deceived. Aringarosa admits that his eagerness and fear led him to trust the Teacher, who promised there would be no killing and claimed he could help Opus Dei.

Aringarosa remembers the crisis that made him vulnerable to the Teacher. Five months earlier, at Castel Gandolfo, a Vatican secretariat and two cardinals told Aringarosa that the Holy See would revoke Opus Dei's status as a Vatican prelature in six months. They cited Opus Dei's controversial practices, recruiting, corporal mortification, and views on women, while offering financial severance tied to past Vatican support.

Aringarosa reacted with fury and despair, arguing that Opus Dei was one of the few growing and disciplined Catholic movements. The Vatican officials refused to reverse the decision or let Aringarosa appeal to the Pope directly. Returning to New York, Aringarosa felt that his life's work and the future of Christianity were threatened.

Weeks later, the Teacher contacted Aringarosa, claiming to know about the Vatican's secret plan and offering a way to recover a sacred relic that would give Aringarosa power over the Vatican. Because Aringarosa believed the relic could save Opus Dei and the Church, Aringarosa agreed to hear the Teacher's plan, setting the night's violence in motion.

Back in the present, Silas reaches St. Mary's Hospital and collapses while calling for help. Doctors take Aringarosa onto a gurney but warn that Aringarosa has lost too much blood. Silas vows to hunt down and kill the person who deceived them, but Aringarosa urges Silas toward forgiveness instead, telling him to pray.