I just published a novel about the real story of a Catholic priest during WWII in Paris, who used to inflitrate Resistance networks, get as many names as possib

I just published a novel about the real story of a Catholic priest during WWII in Paris, who used to inflitrate Resistance networks, get as many names as possible, and then sell them to the Germans. He was caught after the war and was executed (by firing squad). He apparently never ceased to believe in God, petitioned the prison chief so that they would let him say mass (they said no), and received communion every day up to the morning of his execution. But he never expressed any kind of regret for what he had done. The novel is a first-person narrative to try to get into his head. Petiot was a doctor who killed people instead of healing them. My character was a priest who betrayed those who trusted him -- extreme cases of cognitive dissonance. Yet I think we all suffer from it (to a much lesser extent, hopefully). We spend an enormous amount of time and effort rationalizing our own life and character. One of the strengths of the human psyché is to create an image of the self that we can accept. It doesn't need to be very close to reality. Maybe one needs a precise amount of rationalization, or some kind of equilibrium, to operate. Too little, you fall into depression. Too much, you're a monster.