"Howard Hughes told it to me the day Robert Kennedy was shot.

"Hughes was very interested in American Indians..."

"They don't mind having a priest around..."



Adapted from The Black Death, by Gwyneth Cravens and John S. Marr. 1977.

A sinister senior level government official is sharing an anecdote with other such shady characters, likewise up to no good, during a domestic crisis of Medieval Proportions. :)

"It may seem irrelevant to you gentlemen, but I have a story to tell you.

"Howard Hughes told it to me the day Robert Kennedy was shot.

"Hughes was very interested in American Indians.

"He had an almost religious appreciation of their customs.

"He liked to tell about a pueblo of Christian Indians in New Mexico.

"Usually the priests who are assigned to the pueblo are Irishmen from Boston who know nothing of Indian customs and believe they are being sent to a parish no different from one in Detroit.

"They think they will be showing the Indians how to live better, more pious lives.

"The Indians have another viewpoint, though.

"They don't mind having a priest around -- they think it's a good idea to have all the bases covered, so they continue worshiping the old gods and are happy to throw in the Holy Family as well.

"Well, whenever a new priest arrives in the pueblo, the first thing he sees is that the church is all painted up inside with symbols of the corn god and the rain god and so on.

"The Indians explain their customs to the priest very graciously as they take him around the church.

"Just when the priest is about to tell them how all that has to go, that it's a Catholic church, not a pagan temple, the governor of the pueblo leads the priest up behind the altar and shows him a row of skulls on a shelf.

"The Indian politely explains that these are the remains of former priests who did not understand the local customs.

"At that point the priest either packs up and goes back to Boston or he goes along with what the Indians want...."