The First Woman Cardinal of the Catholic Church, II

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The First Woman Cardinal of the Catholic Church, II

 
By Melissa Tawn
 
Cardinal O'Connor feels impelled to go public, because of the tragic story of a French-Canadian priest.


 
 

INTRODUCTION: This is a sequel to my earlier story “The First Woman Cardinal of the Catholic Church, I”, written after several readers asked me to continue the story of Mark Anthony Cardinal O’Connor, who transitioned to become Mary Anne Cardinal O’Connor, the first woman cardinal of the Catholic Church. The reader is referred to that story for the circumstances surrounding Cardinal O’Connor’s transition. This story begins a short time after the previous story left off.

In the months following her hearing before a board of cardinals, Cardinal O’Connor maintained a low public profile. She refused all invitations to speak for or to various feminist, gay-rights, or other agenda-oriented groups, she refused to appear on platforms with politicians or social reformers. She turned down offers to write her autobiography (or have it ghostwritten) or even to write for popular magazines. She continued her theological writings, but they were aimed at a very specialized audience and not at the general public. Her only lectures were given in theological seminaries and concerned her studies and striking re-interpretation of the writings of such medieval theologians as Rolandus Baldinelli, Johannes Teutonicus, and Richard of Middleton.

It therefore came as rather a surprise when, on the first anniversary of her transition, she let it be known -- discreetly and through intermediaries -- that she was willing to be interviewed on the subject on the BBC. Needless to say, the BBC was quite happy to oblige and arranged for an hour-long interview by no less that Sir Martin Keegan, the distinguished BBC producer who had recently been knighted for his contribution to quality television. Sir Martin was himself a Catholic and the administrators of the network were confident that he had sufficient experience and tact to handle the interview well.

On the appointed day, Cardinal O’Connor appeared at the BBC’s Rome studios to tape the interview. She was wearing a somber black dress, again with no jewelry save for her pectoral cross. She definitely looked older and more serious than she did last year. The white hairs on her head were much more noticeable, giving visual evidence of the terrible strain she must have been under for the past year. Though kind and polite, she did not smile as widely as she did a year before.

The first twenty minutes of the interview went as Sir Martin had expected. Cardinal O’Connor recalled the reasons for her decision to transition, gave a short history of her life up to that point, omitting, of course, all mention of His Holiness Pope J** and his part in what had happened. At this point, however, Sir Martin decided to start probing a bit deeper.

“Cardinal O’Connor,” he said, “until today you have refused all media requests to interview you. What caused you to change your mind?”

“It is because of a French-Canadian priest, Father Bernard Pelletier,” replied Cardinal O’Connor. “If you will indulge me, I would like to tell you his story.” The camera turned to Cardinal O’Connor’s face, which plainly showed her anguish, and she began:

“Father Bernard Pelletier was born in Montreal 25 years ago. Like me, he was born in a body which did not fit his gender identity. Indeed, he was born in the body of a girl, and was christened Bernadette Pelletier. He underwent the same anguishes I did, but his circumstances were much different from mine. For one, the whole issue of transsexuality has become more open and above-board than it was when I was young, and Bernadette was able, through the internet, to learn about it and find others like her. More importantly, the young Bernadette confided in her parents, who are educated and enlightened people. Her father was a clinical psychologist, familiar with the gender problems. After sending Bernadette to talk to one of his colleagues, who confirmed that her feelings were genuine and deeply held, he and her mother agreed to raise her as though she was male. They called her Bernard and sent her to a private school under that name. She was given appropriate hormones to keep from developing a female body and, when she was of legal age, she underwent sexual reassignment surgery at the hands of one of the excellent surgeons in Montreal. All this was done, let me emphasize, with the loving care and support of her family. Bernard emerged from the experience as a handsome and likeable young man, with no psychological scars and with a deep sense of gratitude.

The Pelletier family is deeply religious and Bernard’s gratitude extended not only to his parents but also to his God for placing him in such fortunate and loving circumstances. He decided that he could best repay this favor shown to him by becoming a priest. He was accepted to a theological seminary in Quebec, and there completed his studies. It is during that time, incidentally, that I may have met him. I had been on a lecture tour of North America and remember giving a talk at that seminary during the time he was there and he later wrote to me that my talk moved him very much. He claimed that we met at the reception after my talk but, to my sorrow, I must admit that I cannot recall his face. There were so many talks, so many students …

Upon graduation, Father Pelletier volunteered to serve in an obscure parish in northern Quebec, even though he could have pulled a few strings and gotten himself assigned to some rich church in Montreal. He felt, however, that it was his duty to go where he was most needed. The parish to which he was sent was Ile d’Anjou, deep in the forests of the Ungava Peninsula in the far north of the province. The small town had been without a permanent priest for almost a decade, and the church was in urgent need of repair. But Father Pelletier set to work with zeal and determination.

It was not easy. French Canadians are a very insular people, and the small communities spread out thinly in the northern forests are even more insular. It took a long time for him to gain first the respect and then the trust of his parishioners: a long agonizing time. And then, suddenly, a crisis arose. One winter night, as he was seated at his desk working on the parish accounts, he heard a rap at his door. Dominique, the 15-year-old daughter of Jean Laplace, one of the woodsmen who lived in the town, came in a horrid story. Her father and two of his friends had gotten drunk earlier and had viciously attacked and raped her. She fled the house after they had all passed out, and ran to him for sanctuary.

There is no police station in Ile d’Anjou. The nearest post of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is over 200 miles away, and in the winter the roads are often impassible. Father Pelletier had no choice but to tell Dominique to stay at his house. That night, it snowed heavily and it was clear that nothing could be done the next day. Indeed, it took three days before the RCMP was able to send a patrol to Ile d’Anjou to take Dominique away with them. By that time, she was too frightened to press charges against her father or his friends. She just kept repeating that she wanted to forget everything, wanted everything to be a bad dream.

But the bad dream only got worse. Six weeks later, it was clear that Dominique, now living with her aunt in Baie-Comeau, was pregnant. The aunt told Dominique’s father and Jean Laplace in turn loudly proclaimed that she had been abducted and assaulted by the youthful, and good looking Father Pelletier, under whose roof she had lived for several days. In fact, he filed a formal complaint to that effect with the RCMP.

The RCMP was forced, of course, to investigate. With all of the tact, and firmness, for which such investigates are known, Father Pelletier was asked to prove that he had not, indeed, had sex with Dominique. (Jean Laplace used his right under the law to refuse to allow the RCMP to take DNA samples from his daughter, who was still a minor.) Father Pelletier had no choice and, trusting the secrecy of the police files, revealed to the chief investigator his gender background, which certainly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could NOT have impregnated Dominique. The police were convinced, and the case was closed, with no public explanation being given as to the reason.

This was not very satisfactory. The case had attracted a certain amount of media attention and the refusal of the police to give any explanation for dropping the charges against Father Pelletier led to speculation, especially in the left-wing press, about pressures exerted by the Vatican on the RCMP. One MP even called for a parliamentary investigation.

Clearly, Father Pelletier could not return to Ile d’Anjou and resume his work. Indeed, because the media attacks, the bishop suggested to him that he might find it convenient to spend some time in retreat in a monastery, preferably a very cloistered one. Badly shaken, Father Pelletier agreed.

After the final arrangements were made, and Father Pelletier had gone to his retreat, the bishop felt obliged to talk to the inspector in charge of the case, and thank him for his speed in ending Father Pelletier’s ordeal, even at the cost of bad publicity to the RCMP. In the course of their conversation, the inspector let slip that he was surprised that the Catholic Church ordained transsexuals. The bishop, needless to say, was surprised as well. He didn’t know. Being troubled by this, and feeling out of his depth, he wrote a letter to the Vatican asking for guidance as to what should be done in case that information, too, was leaked to the press. The answer that came back was unequivocal. Father Pelletier was to be defrocked without delay. The Church did not allow transsexual priests.”

Cardinal O’Connor paused at this point to drink some water, and then continued, slowly.

“You can imagine the agony that Father Pelletier was going through. Not only had he been falsely accused of rape, but now his own church was turning against him. My own story had become public several months earlier and, in what was perhaps his only hope, he wrote to me asking for my intervention. I verified the facts of the story, talked to his bishop, and decided to go directly to the Holy Father. As you know, I am not as close to this pope as I was to his predecessors, and after my rather public hearing, he kept a distinct distance from me. Even Cardinal Leone, the Secretary of State, was given specific orders not to meet with me. I did manage to arrange an appointment with one of the Pope’s secretaries and tell the whole story, just as I did to you. I was promised that the matter would be reviewed. After a few months, I received a reply from the same secretary … there can be no change in policy. Bernard Pelletier can remain a good member of the church, but he can no longer serve as a priest.

With heavy heart, I wrote to him that I had failed, and that there was nothing more I could do. The day after he received my letter, when the monks came to wake him, they found Bernard Pelletier hanging in his cell. He had taken his own life.”

At this point, Cardinal O’Connor slowly rose from her seat.

“I asked for this interview, so I could tell his story, and so I could beg forgiveness, in front of the eyes of the world, for what was done and what was not done by me and by the Holy Church of which I am a humble and faithful servant, to this good and just and pure man.”

Slowly, she removed her shoes and sank to her knees, the camera catching the tears in her eyes.

“Mea culpa! The blood of Father Pelletier is on my hands, as it is on the hands of all of us. Until we all look deep inside of ourselves and review and correct what we have done, it will never go away.”

As the camera swung to him, Sir Martin, with a few well-chosen words, brought the interview to an end. Afterwards, the tape was shown to the representative of the Vatican Press Office, and it was decided that in the best interests of the public, and of the BBC’s future relationship with the Holy See, that it never be aired. In return, Sir Martin was awarded the privilege of an exclusive 15-minute interview with His Holiness. They talked about the global renewal of faith, as shown by the large crowds which turned out at every stop on the recent papal tour of Africa.

Notes:

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Comments

Typical

Church cover up. Even though this is a fictional story you know that cover-ups like this do happen in the real world.

Sad though.

"We" are not amused!

So, let it be written

So, let it Be Done!!
(Yul Brynner)

Konichiwa

A very realistic account of ...

"What Might Happen If"

It is true that the RC church declared transexuals could not become priests, sisters, nuns, or hold any position that requires Holy Orders or ordination. It is also true that a cardinal is an appointed position and therefore they do not need to be ordained.

This law was pushed forward by the then Cardinal Ratzinger when held the second highest postion of the church under the then Pope Paul II. He is now the new pope. He s=has strengthened that position even more now. It is a fact that all known transexuals both female and male have been as they say 'defrocked' or removed from their positions.

I would like to point out that each and everyone of these loving and devout people started their religious positions with a deception. They had to have had false birth records and baptismal records to join these orders. They each new the rules of the church before they entered into their religiouis lives. They freely chose to circumvent these rules for whatever reasons.

I am not a defender of religion and I also am an ex-RC! I even went through the lay ministry program and graduated. It was the very rules I studied of this religion that turned me from practicing that faith ever again. Ever since Vatican II was established and implemented, the RC church has suffered and suffered dearly world wide. There are reasons for this, but they are not important. The only reason that is important is the RC church has faith in itself more than it has faith in the God and Christ they supposedly worship.

I offer a bit of advice to any transexuals wanting to go into a religious faith as pastors or in other copacities that they must make a promise to God, Christ, and to their chosen religion. Know the rules of that religion, at least as far as their transexualism is concerend. Do not hold your transexualism a secret to enter any of these religions. If they don't allow you to enter, the religion isn't worth having you! If you really want to join that religious order anyway, seek to change the rules in any copacity you can.

Make them understand! It's not easy, but changes can and do occur!

I'm saddened that this story ended as it did. It seems to me the Cardinal gave up to easily! She could have and should have found another way to spread her story. The BBC and the Vatican do not have the last word for any determined individual!

Huggles All and another fine story by Melissa Tawn! WELL DONE!
Angel

Be yourself, so easy to say, so hard to live.

You can find my stories by going to. http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/taxonomy/term/39

The ones I deleted from this site are here. (Well, most of them anyway.)

http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/weblink/go

"Be Your-Self, So Easy to Say, So Hard to Live!"