Father John

Father John Augustine makes a rather unlikely priest.  Profane, hot-tempered, and arrogant, he has continually enraged his superiors in the hierarchy.

However, largely by attrition, Father Augustine has ascended to the position of head priest at St. Jerome parish, one of the poorest and most dangerous parishes in the Northeast. On any given day, St. Jerome looks more like a tent hospital in the Civil War than a church. Father John’s time is typically taken up by administering last rites to people dying slow, degrading, senseless deaths.

Father John entered the priesthood out of a sense of guilt towards a just and righteous God.  But now that he has witnessed first-hand the suffering God allows in Creation, John's faith is waning. He regularly delegates the more spiritual and aspects of his duties to his subordinates, while he devotes his efforts to alleviating the suffering of those he feels God has abandoned. 

He spends most of his time in his workshop, where he uses his incredible gift with machines to build the various tools, appliances, and medical equipment needed to keep his flock alive.  Those who have seen John at work would swear his affinity with machines borders on the supernatural…

When rumors begin to spread that Timothy Smith, a mute, African-American orphan living on church grounds had begun to perform miracles, Father John dismisses them.  Until he witnesses one of Timothy’s miracles first-hand…