Rubrics and Runes

by Gilbert Luis R. Centina III

When José Morán entered the monastery, it was to pursue the highest form of chivalry. But his fate as a religious priest takes a precipitous turn when social paroxysm grips the island-nation of Islas e Islotes after the downfall of the government. To cover up his own misdeeds, his abominably corrupt religious superior leading a double life seizes the ensuing chaos and collaborates with human rights violators in the military to accuse the completely innocent friar of a fabricated heinous crime. The plot unravels as those who claim to follow Christ wade into politics, taking for granted his injunction to “render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.” In this novel, cassocked hypocrites are unmasked and only the weak are spared.

199 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2013

Reviews

[Caithleen Gregory]

This is definitely a novel to read, especially when one is closely following the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Centina has superbly used his great talent as a satirist to great effect in describing the various characters in this novel. Of note is his description of a friar whom he calls Gordo, or Fat in English. He pokes fun at religious superiors who play God as they shuffle the lives of their subordinates in the monastery without regard for their talents or even feelings as a human being. He describes the sexual abuse that take place in the seminary. In one scene, he has an entire high school of seminarians lining up to be physically examined by the school doctor for any signs of sexual diseases. Ogling the naked boys next to the doctor is their Father Master who ordered the test on the pretext that he wanted the seminary to be free of any contagious sexual diseases, given the small confines of the boys' dormitory. But the seminarians' ordeal is not for that purpose but to satisfy the priests homosexual perversion.

[Ray Dubois]

This is the second book of Gilbert Luis Centina that I have read after "Somewhen." Reading this novel makes you wonder whatever happened to the Catholic Church, as this novel is written by a Catholic religious priest. Although this is a book of fiction, it offers a glimpse of life inside the four walls of the monastery, where the worst kind of politics is being played out every day, victimizing priests and seminarians who cross the path of their vengeful religious superiors. The main character in this novel is a priest named José Morán whose skills as a writer has made him famous and respected outside of the monastery walls. He is eyed with envy by his superior, who goes by the character Derovere, a scheming convent politician who wades into politics to collect checks from politicians to sustain his secular lifestyle with a mistress. Their rivalry mirrors that of two political leaders: one is the incumbent president whose government is being destabilized by forces beyond his control who use a widow to oust him from power. This book is most likely informed by the author's own personal experiences in the seminary as it brings to mind today's shocking headlines on sexual abuse and cover-ups by religious authorities. The novel is riveting, although the ending is open ended, which definitely calls for a sequel.

[Edward Longshore]

Rubric and Runes is a novel that focuses on corruption within the Catholic Church in a fictional country called Islas e Islotes. The main character of the novel is José Moran, a young idealistic friar who remains true to his vocation despite witnessing the politicking of his fellow friars in a religious order that runs Catholic schools and parishes in a country caught in civil strife. It is set in a background of great turmoil which pits Moran against his corrupt religious superior who took side in a political struggle between a President demonized by the opposition led by a widow who cast herself as a modern-day Joan of Arc, the female Moses who has vowed to deliver her countrymen from the oppressive pharaoh personified by President Hugo. Father Tiburon, Moran's superior, has cast his lot with the Pink crowd, the followers of Madame Chichi, the grieving widow whose husband was assassinated under mysterious circumstances and whose death was blame don President Hugo. The Catholic church mobilizes its followers to spread black propaganda against the Hugo government, portraying the widow as an icon of democracy, when in truth it was her husband who helped organize the Communist Party of Islas e Isolates in his lust for power. His ambition to become president drove him to connive with the communists in order to oust President Hugo who he knew could not be defeated in a regular election because of his popularity with the masses. Hugo, besides being a stumbling block to his ambition, was also the anti-thesis of the oligarchy which he represented. The novel unfolds as civil strife erupts in the country. Father Tiburron moves to stamp any favorable sentiments for the Hugos and focuses his wrath on Moran whom he sees as a rival to his own ambition to become the country head of his religious order. Gilbert Centina's rendition of sexual ambition within the four walls of the seminary brings to mind recent headlines which cost the Church in such places as Boston so much money as it settled lawsuits against sex abuse victims. That Centina himself is a Catholic friar makes one wonder if the events of sexual abuse, financial shenanigan and secular ambitions exhibited by the supposedly religious characters inhabiting his work are drawn from his own experiences as a friar. This is an interesting read especially for those who advocate against sexual abuse and clericalism. A fascinating read.