Father Turiddu Returns

Just after nine o'clock, Father Salvatore E. Turiddu walked through the front door of Interpol's Rome headquarters and asked to see the agent in charge. He didn't have to wait long before he was introduced to the chief inspector, the head of the Rome office. Father T (as everyone calls him) explained that he was a priest from the United States whose family came from Sicily. He told the chief inspector that he was a close friend of the cardinal who had recently been threatened by terrorists and that the purpose of his visit was to learn more about this unfortunate situation and offer his assistance. "I regret to inform you, Monsignore," the chief inspector said to Father T, "that your friend the cardinal was abducted last night from a small monastery in Umbria where he was staying after receiving several terrorist threats here in Rome and at the Vatican." "Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what a catastrophe!" exclaimed Father T. "I may be 82 years old, but I'm going to use all the gifts God gave me to make sure that my friend and former archbishop is not harmed by these terrorist goons!" Father Turiddu Returns: The Cardinal and the Inquisitor is a novel, a fictional story, that celebrates the all too real life and ministry of one of the Catholic Church's most unique and beloved priests. The story celebrates values that are timeless--friendship, loyalty, love for the truth and the refusal to betray fundamental beliefs. Like Father Brown, Father Dowling and other priest-detectives who solve crimes while serving as full-time pastors, Father T uses his knowledge of human nature and his absolute trust in God's grace to lead him where others cannot go and to solve mysteries that baffle civil authorities. "I think you're nuts," Father T's cousin told him. "But I know I can't talk you out of it if your mind is made up. It's a Sicilian thing, I know. But I'm Sicilian, too, and my advice is: Don't do it. You're 82 years old and it's too dangerous!" Readers will enjoy Father Turiddu's fictional adventures, but even more they will love the man, the character and the priest who never hesitates to do whatever it takes to help those who are in need.