REVELATION-final1

DAY THREE(Monday, 21 April 2014)EASTER IN THE ETERNAL CITYI have no preconceived notions or an exact plan for how to make my presence felt in Rome. Iam confident that Pope Francis and his cardinals will welcome my hunger strike as it providesthem with the opportunity to rage at the secularists who are destroying new life in the womb andalso the potential of life by preventing the moment of conception. Protecting the unborn, Ireason, has been the Catholic Church’s fight for decades and I am certain that they will see me asan ally and not as a foe.Although I did not plan it this way, the time of my arrival in Rome could not be more auspicious.I left Canada for my hunger strike on Good Friday, the day of Christ’s crucifixion and his deathat Calvary and delivered my letter to Pope Francis on Easter Day, the day Christ rose from thegrave. The symbolism of a new beginning, of new life, is ideal for the overturn of theglobalization/depopulation axis around which the world has been forced to revolve since 1945and as a result of which life has been diminished and the culture of death elevated to policystatus.To capitalize on the propitious time of my arrival in Rome I decide to immediately film anappeal to Pope Francis and send it to him as well as post it online. Nick and I waste no time andspend the afternoon on St. Peter’s square filming a short video appeal by following a text Idrafted in the morning.This is new territory for me, as it is for Nick. First of all, I have never been in front of a camera,and certainly not in public places where I am being observed by countless passersby, which isdistracting and disconcerting, and secondly I have never written a script for this medium, whichhas very different requirements from writing prose or journalism. But this is no time to be selfcriticalor shy so I plunge into the work without handicapping myself with doubt and fear. I willdo the best I can under the circumstances and that will have to be enough. On the way to St.Peter’s I practice my lines, which I have to memorize for the camera.We are lucky the day is blessed with brilliant sunshine and lively crowds and our backdrop, St.Peter’s Square and Basilica, could not be more photogenic or appropriate. I am lucky Nick iswonderful company, loves to talk and has a personality that is as bright as the day. More thanthis, he is as excited about the hunger strike and as aware of its importance as I am so I don’tneed to motivate him. He plunges into the work with the same enthusiasm as I do.We are awed by our surroundings: the opulence of the art, the magnificence of the architecture,the massive crowds of thankful worshippers and well-heeled tourists. It is hard enough taking itall in, but that much harder having to phase it all out to concentrate on the task.22