Magnificat

Allo? - Allo, Charlotte? It's Anne.

Yes, Anne. What's going on?

- Sorry to wake you, but we have a little problem here in Saint-Laurent.

I'm with Jean-Pierre, he called me. You absolutely have to come.

But—what kind of problem?

Pascal has just died.

Poor man!

But at the same time, I don't really see what I can do for you?

Call a doctor. He'll confirm death—

- No, no, the doctor's already here. It's just that he won't leave.

- Really? But why? - Well I don't know.

He says he wants to talk to someone in charge.

On my way.

Thank you for coming so quickly.

- Is he still waiting? - Yes.

Follow me.

Here, this way.

Father Lataste.

I'm sorry.

- What can we do? That's how it is. He has joined Our Lord.

Yes.

Good morning, doctor. - Morning.

Did he suffer?

- If he stopped fighting, it was because he was exhausted.

Pascal knew his condition from the start.

I never hid anything from him.

Is there something I should know?

- Anne told me you are the chancellor of the diocese.

That's right.

Then I suppose I ought to give this to you.

- What is it? - The death certificate.

I don't want to leave until you've read it in my presence.

Well, there's one mistake. - No, there's no mistake.

There is. There's a mistake.

No. You can check for yourself.

But this has to be a mistake.

It's impossible, how can I— - I wanted to be sure you understood the situation.

My only advice— - No, wait. Excuse me.

I don't understand. I don't understand at all.

- My only advice is that you decide quickly what you're going to do with the body.

I've done my job.

Now you do yours.

Good morning. - Good morning.

Good morning.

- Anne? - Yes?

- What are you doing? - I'm—archiving.

Archiving? But there's an archivist for that.

Haven't you been to the basement?

No, not yet. I thought you might come with me.

Yes, it’s true that all of this is very disturbing.

- As you know, Anne, I make sure the diocese's legal documents—

are drafted, signed, sent and preserved.

And you—you have to help me. All right?

- All right? - All right.

Has Monsignor Mével arrived?

I—I don't know.

All right.

Father?

Excuse me.

- Good morning, Charlotte. - Good morning.

What is it?

Pascal Foucher is dead.

- Pascal Foucher is—? - Yes, the priest at Saint-Laurent.

Poor man.

Father, will you come?

- Listen, it's sad news, but it's not Pope Francis who's just died.

This information could have waited until after my session, couldn't it?

You really should come.

- Charlotte, you're annoying me. Don't beat around the bush.

But you—did you check?

- No. Not personally. But—I asked for confirmation.

- Who from? - My cousin.

Your cousin?

Yes. My cousin runs a funeral service in Créteil.

He came to help me.

And since his agency is falling apart, I told him that if he can keep this to himself,

he could count on the diocese's business in the future..

- Catholic? - Of course.

In my family, we baptize more by tradition but—

- Believing? Practising? - Yes.

OK, that's fine, he'll know how to keep his mouth shut. What then?

I asked him to check everything.

Up, down and sideways.

And—what?

It's a woman. With a slight beard,

but female breasts and genitals.

A real woman.

Have you mentioned this to anyone?

No. No one.

Well, apart from the doctor, my cousin—and now you.

No one could understand why the body was removed so quickly.

Nor the decision to cremate. So, to put out the fire,

I mentioned a special mass for his funeral.

What do you mean by a special mass?

A mass in your presence—

where—you would preach the sermon.

- Anything else? You don't want me to sing as well, do you?

Why did you say that? - To avoid a scandal.

To create a diversion. Isn't that what you want?

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

- Don't worry, I'll prepare a text so you can talk about her—him.

A woman priest isn't enough for you?

You need another one to write the sermons?

Take over my desk while you're at it.

All right, that's enough, leave me alone. Go!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

When I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,

and have not charity,

I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge;

and though I have all faith ...

... and though I give my body to be burned,

and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long ...

I will have mercy, and not sacrifice:

for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

This is the word of the Lord. - Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord.

It is therefore from among the rabble—

that Christ chose some of his disciples.

In my heart I know your feelings.

Solidarity. You're happy to see one another again.

Sadness, because one of your own is gone so soon.

A little worried, that God does not protect you against cancer.

So very naive.

What do we know about Father Foucher?

He was a kind man,

a good priest,

holding masses and meetings without complaint.

Dead.

Discreetly.

A life given to God, peaceful and luminous.

I appreciated that—

That man.

With him, I felt—

at peace.

He asked for nothing.

He provoked no quarrel.

And he was close to his parishioners.

I had esteem and friendship for him.

Yes, I shall miss him.

All of us—

miss him.

But when I look at that coffin lying there,

I tell myself that perhaps, that is not what Christ saw.

He is not in the habit of looking at appearances.

He seeks out our innermost being.

Christ sees in us—

what we ourselves cannot see.

What, lost in our lies, we refuse to see.

As he saw in Sarah that she could bear a child at an advanced age.

As he saw in Judas the man who would betray Him.

When he looked at Father Foucher,

what did he see?

Charlotte.

- Good morning, Charlotte. - Good morning, Father.

- How was it? - Everything went as planned.

- No—No questions? - None.

Very well, sit down.

Now what do we do? - We forget the whole story.

Close the file. If no one noticed anything,

there's no reason to dwell on it. The body's been cremated. End of story.

- Wha if one day the story comes out anyway? - We can say we didn't know.

After all, that's the truth.

- Except that the death certificate handed to me states otherwise.

In terms of responsibility, I'm the one on the front line.

It's unbelievable.

What?

That she managed to be a priest all these years.

A woman can't be a priest.

- We have proof that she can. - Yes, Charlotte—

the truth is that we knew absolutely nothing about Pascal.

I managed to gather some information.

His civil status, first of all.

Pascal Foucher, born August 10, 1969, born anonymously, male.

So—

There lies the whole mystery.

No adoption, but placed in foster care until his malority.

After that, I lost track of him.

I found him again five years later at the seminary, thanks to our archives.

He was ordained priest in 1995 in Besançon.

In 2008, he organized World Youth Day in Sydney, then in Madrid.

And eventually in 2013 he ended up in Saint-Laurent, where he settled.

A very good parish priest.

Very much appreciated, dedicated to his neighbourhood.

Now suddenly I don't know if I should say he or if I should say she.

- My feeling is, if it's all right with you, that we should continue to use he.

Father Pascal Foucher.

- You're right. That's probably what she would have wanted.

I don't give a shit what she would have wanted!

Her imposture contaminates our Church and forces us to maintain her lie.

- I think the Vatican has just reiterated John Paul II's position on the ordination of women.

An eternal no. Good Lord, it couldn't be clearer.

- But Pope Francis has opened up avenues for them to become deacons.

At least in the Amazon, to compensate for the shortage of priests.

The commission concluded in the negative.

- Yes, but it’s still proof he’s thinking about it, right?

- If the scandal breaks, and the Vatican finds out our seminaries are infiltrated by women—

that would be the apocalypse, no?

- You could ask those in charge of the seminaries to check the applicants' biological status.