The Cardinal Page #12

every one of them.

There is going to be a war, he says.

The Church must be drafted

into the service of the Fatherland...

the same as the Army.

In Austria, there must be

even more control than in Germany...

because we have such a Catholic majority.

Our schools are to be abolished.

Our youth groups dissolved.

Catholic marriage will no longer have

the force of law.

At the very end, he started yelling...

and asked me if I didn't think

Almighty God...

had chosen him to lead

the German people to their destiny.

He didn't wait for an answer.

And I remembered myself

at the plebiscite...

raising my hand in a heathen salute...

and saying not, "Praise to the Lord,"

but "Heil Hitler."

We could save the Blessed Sacrament.

It leads to the crypt under the cathedral.

Eminence!

Oh, no. It's only a scratch.

We must get you out of here.

With a Vatican passport, you are one of

the few people who can leave the country.

At least for the moment. You must

tell the truth about Hitler's promises.

You can't stay here, Your Eminence.

You're not safe.

Safety, I'm afraid, is among the illusions

we can no longer depend on.

Pray for me.

Your Excellency,

the most extraordinary thing...

Frau von Hartman.

The Gestapo came to question her. I told

them they'd no right to enter the building.

- That it's the soil of a sovereign power.

- What happened?

Frau von Hartman

went outside to meet them.

She didn't wish to claim

the right of asylum here.

I begged her to wait till

Your Excellency returned, but...

She wouldn't?

Frau von Hartman said

her character was barely strong enough...

to do what she was doing right then.

It wouldn't hold up

if she had to talk to you about it.

Open up!

I couldn't believe it, Your Excellency,

when they told me who was here.

Why did you let them take you?

Because it suddenly seemed easier

not to fight them.

It just didn't matter anymore.

It matters a lot.

We both know you're innocent.

Of one thing, to escape from Austria with

money and jewels. I'm innocent of that.

And with the right help, you may prove it.

I have a lawyer coming to see you.

Is it worth so much effort? I wonder.

I've had time to think about myself

since Kurt died.

When I was a spoiled girl,

I fell in love with a young man.

A priest.

I loved him. At least, I think I loved him.

But he was also a challenge to my vanity.

I wanted to take him away

from his priesthood.

I wanted to take him away from God.

- You're not allowing us much time.

- No, let me speak please.

When I lost that campaign,

I was disappointed...

and I turned to Kurt,

which might have been all right...

if I had been able to make myself, for him,

the wife I used to dream about.

A woman who existed only for her man.

Poor Kurt.

He would have been satisfied with less,

much less, but I gave him nothing.

- Annemarie...

- Let me finish.

Even when two people

have very little to share...

it is possible for them to make

some sort of a life together.

Until one of them has

a very strong need of the other.

When Kurt felt such a need,

there was nowhere for him to turn.

He loved me too much

to leave the country without me...

and he couldn't be sure enough of me

to tell me about his plan.

I can imagine what he felt...

when he heard my foolish talk about

the new Greater Germany.

Because of that alone,

it serves me right that I'm here now.

Do you think Kurt would feel that way?

No.

He was too kind.

He would not want to see me hurt.

Then that's one reason to try

to clear yourself, for his sake.

Also for mine,

because I care what happens to you.

Thank you. I wish I did.

Let's wrap it up! Your time is up.

You have to. The most important reason

of all is for your own sake.

Because of what you are.

Not an ant in a totalitarian anthill...

but a human being, an individual...

with a God-given soul of your own.

Come.

Thank you, Your Excellency.

And goodbye.

I have the honor to inform

Your Eminence...

that the Holy Father will confer

the cardinal's biretta...

at the semipublic consistory

in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican...

Thursday morning, at 10:00.

Thank you.

My friends...

dear brethren in Christ...

my mother...

and the other members of my family,

who have traveled so far for this occasion.

I thank you all for being here.

And I know you share my gratitude

to the Holy Father...

for the honor he has done to me

and to America.

When His Holiness informed me

that he intended to name me...

to the Sacred College of Cardinals...

my first reaction was that

I could not live up to his confidence in me.

I haven't gotten over that fear yet.

I doubt that I ever will.

But the second thought I had about it

gave me the strength to try.

What occurred to me was

that there is a special significance...

in the Holy Father's decision

to send me back to my own country...

as a cardinal and archbishop...

at this moment of global crisis.

America's first bishop, John Carroll...

was the brother of a signer

of the Declaration of Independence...

and a living example...

of that loyalty to church and state...

to religion and to democracy...

that this moment in history

demands from us all.

I have seen at close range...

the hell on earth that awaits us all

if totalitarianism prevails.

If the world forgets that all men alike

are the children of God...

endowed by their Creator...

with the unalienable right...

to life...

liberty...

and the pursuit of happiness.

That is America's creed.

That is the Gospel of the Church.

It is in danger, at this moment,

from men...

and doctrines that are

the enemies of all freedoms...

political, as well as religious.

The defense of freedom

calls for strong voices...

strong hearts...

strong hands.

Pray for me, that I may not falter...

and for the liberty and exaltation

of our church...

and our beloved country.

God bless you.

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