“So what happened? When you had to forget the declaration of nullity, I mean?”
“My priest suggested something he called ’a pastoral solution.…
“You just get married in civil law,” Tully completed the explanation, “and look on that as your valid marriage and go from there. Go to Mass. Take Communion. Count on your conscience to lead you.
She glanced at him, surprised that he was familiar with a procedure that she had thought most rare-probably reserved to a few inner-city priests, and maybe only in the Archdiocese of Detroit at that.
He read her thoughts. “Surprised?.”
“Yes, frankly.”
“Don’t be. The procedure’s been around a long time. Another spillover from the Second Vatican Council … although not specifically conciliar. More a theological development from the spirit of Vatican II. It’s just an admission that Church law isn’t equipped to handle some problems.
“The trouble is, of course, that it isn’t canonical. So it can’t be applied openly. You called it ‘a pastoral solution’-and so it is. But it might just as well be called ‘a triumph of conscience.’ Because whatever it’s called, it recognizes the supremacy of conscience.
“So, you followed your priest’s advice.”
“No.”
“No!.”
“I needed something more. Blame whatever, I needed more than my conscience told me.”
“You needed … a ceremony?”
“Exactly. And that’s what my priest gave us. It was a simple ceremony. No Mass. But in the church, at the altar, with two witnesses. With that I felt secure.”
“One of the problems-maybe the only problem-is that a lot depends on the tone of the diocese. And that’s set by the bishop. And bishops come in assorted sizes, shapes, and dispositions. Your bishop, Cardinal Boyle, is reputed to be open. Which, in this case, means merely that he wouldn’t take any action against one of his priests who applied the ‘pastoral solution.’ Not unless his back was against the wall.
“I think your priest, whoever he is, was taking a larger than usual risk.”
“Why?” Anne Marie hadn’t considered that there could be any risk attached to that quiet ceremony.
“My brother! He’s an officer in the Homicide Division, isn’t he?” The priest didn’t wait for an answer to his rhetorical question. “He’s in a position where he can and probably does appear in the media-the papers, radio, TV. It’s always possible for someone to learn that Lieutenant Tully got married in a less than strictly orthodox way. If that happens, he gets some coverage. Then, even with a bishop like Cardinal Boyle, a whole bunch of stuff can hit the fan.”
“It didn’t.”
“I’m glad. I’m truly glad. But the priest here really took a chance.”
Anne Marie felt an even deeper gratitude to her priest, now that she realized how he had gone out on a limb to satisfy her need for a ceremony.
They were silent for a few moments.
“May I ask you, Father, did you ever counsel anyone in the ‘pastoral solution’?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Did you ever conduct a wedding service like I had?”
“Yes. But there were times when I was able to convince a couple that it was wiser to stay in the internal forum-just trusting everything to God and a conscience that is not attempting to deceive God.”
“Just out of curiosity, Father, why would you counsel against such a ceremony?”
The priest snorted. “Not because anyone I married or counseled was famous or likely to get a picture in the paper. My parishes don’t run on that level. We-all the Josephite parishes-aren’t moving in the fast lane.
“But, you see, we aren’t diocesan priests. We’re a religious order. We don’t belong to any one diocese. We have parishes in lots of different dioceses. And when we move into such a parish, we fall under the jurisdiction of the local ordinary-the bishop. And, let me assure you, all bishops are not Cardinal Boyle.”
“Well,” Anne Marie said, “anyway, I wanted you to know. And I wanted to explain our situation to you before, the three of us got together. It would be awkward for Zoo. He just went along with everything because he wanted to please me. He didn’t know or care about what was going on. From that time on, it was ‘What you don’t know can’t hurt you.’
“That, by the way, was why I suggested to Zoo that I pick you up. So we could have this little talk beforehand.”
“It was a good idea. I agree entirely. I’m clear on-wait a minute! What did you call him … my brother?”
“What did I …? Oh, you wouldn’t know, would you? His nickname … he picked it up some time ago. Most people call him ‘Zoo’ instead of Alonzo.”
“But his given name is Alonzo. Zo, not Zoo.”
“I know. But that’s the way it is. About the only person I know who calls him Alonzo is his boss, Inspector Walt Koznicki. He’s kind of old-worldly. He wouldn’t think of using a nickname.”
Father Tully thought for a minute, then began to chuckle, until the chuckle became a roar of laughter.
“What is it, Father? Something I’m not tuning in on?”
“Know what my first name is?”
“Uh … let’s see … I was geared to just use your title. It’s … wait: It’s Zachary!”
“And my natural nickname?”
“I suppose … Zack.”
“That’s right. Just think: Zoo and Zack. Zack and Zoo.”
They both began to laugh until the car almost shook. Fortunately, they had arrived at the Tully home; otherwise, Anne Marie might have caused a traffic accident.
As they drove into the attached garage, Father Tully thought he saw a window curtain move, as if someone were watching from inside. Obviously Zoo had arrived. His car was parked in the garage.
They waited until they got control of themselves. Then they entered the condo. They were still grinning broadly as they walked into the living room where Zoo Tully waited.
The police officer and the priest stood motionless as they looked at each other.
“In all my life,” said the priest finally, “I’ve never known what it’s like to have a brother or a sister. And now I’m standing in this room with my brother and my sister.”
“In all my life,” said the officer, “I’ve never had a priest relative, let alone a priest brother.”
They stood as a tableau for several moments.
On impulse, Anne Marie took each brother by the arm and moved the two of them together as all three embraced. Tears flowed. The two men tried, with little success, to cover their emotion.
After a few moments, Anne Marie moved apart. “You two guys sit down and get acquainted. I’m going to stick some things in the microwave. You’ll have to excuse us, Father-oh, nuts, I can’t stop using your title. Anyway, what with my teaching and my dear husband catching the bad guys, we don’t cook much. Usually it’s either prepared food or eating out. We would’ve gone out tonight, but we thought it was better to be home and get used to each other. It’ll just be a little while. Why don’t you two figure out what you’re going to call each other?”
Father Tully and Anne Marie began laughing again as she went to the kitchen.
“Want something to drink?” the officer asked.
“Gin and tonic would be nice … heavy on the tonic.”
Zoo made two virtually identical drinks. He handed one to his brother as they sat down in facing chairs. “Now then, what’s this about what we’re supposed to call each other?”
The priest chuckled. “Anne Marie and I got to talking on the way over. In the course of conversation, she referred to you by your nickname.”
“Zoo? Yeah, just about everybody calls me that.” “That’s what Anne Marie said. Then I told her my nickname.”
“Which is?”
“Not nearly as colorful as yours. It’s Zack … from Zachary.”
Zoo thought about this for a very brief moment. “Zoo and Zack.”
“Zack and Zoo. I should get top billing. I’m a priest.”
“I’m older.”
“You comfortable using our nicknames? People are bound to find it humorous.”