| abstract | - Janovich is a catholic priest and used to be good friend of a woman named Dorothy Kowalski. Before Dorothy's death, she made Janovich promise that he would that he would convince her husband Walt to make a confession. The problem is that Walt is not very religious and keeps rejecting the priest with mockery and insults. However, Janovich takes his promise seriously and refuses to give up. Janovich learns that Walt has a very troubled past because of the Korean war, and deduces that he is too afraid to face his sins. After a Hmong family that Walt has befriended is attacked by a street-gang, Janovich visits Walt in fear that he might take revenge. Walt admits that he is angry,but remains cryptic regarding his future actions. One night, Walt visits Janovich's church and asks to make a confession. Janovich accepts, but is shocked to hear that the only sins that he is truly ashamed of are the ones he committed outside of the war, such as kissing another woman than his wife, and neglecting to properly raise his sons. Janovich suspects that Walt is going try to kill the delinquets who assaulted his friends, and brings two police-officers to prevent it. However, Walt doesn't arrive until after the officers has given up and left. He manipulates the gang into shooting him with several witnesses present, which results in them getting arrested. Janovich holds a brief speech during Walt's funeral, declaring that before he knew Walt, he knew nothing about life and death.
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