The First Woman Cardinal Of The Catholic Church
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The First Woman Cardinal Of The Catholic Church, II free porn video
The First Woman Cardinal of the Catholic Church, II
Melissa Tawn
INTRODUCTION: This is a sequel to my earlier story "The First Woman
Cardinal of the Catholic Church", 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 -- discretely 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 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.
Rowan
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The First Woman Cardinal of the Catholic Church IV The final chapter
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The First Woman Cardinal of the Catholic Church III
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