Chapter 11 - Saving the Convent Was Never a DefenseThe diocesan investigation uncovered something uncomfortable.
Most church officials had not known about the trafficking scheme.
Some had ignored financial irregularities they should have questioned.
Large donations arrived.
Invoices were vague.
Mateo’s affiliated foundation moved money between entities.
Nobody wanted to examine a convent that suddenly stopped asking for emergency funds.
Negligence was not conspiracy.
But silence still had consequences.
Santa Clara was placed under external administration.
The sisters were relocated temporarily.
Some were furious at Lupita.
One told Inés:
“Everything is gone now.”
Inés answered:
“It was already gone. We just know why.”
Others apologized.
Sister Marta, who had carried the drugged tea without knowing its contents, cried for almost an hour when she learned what was inside.
“I gave it to her.”
“You were told it was medicine.”
“I still gave it.”
Lupita eventually met her.
Marta couldn’t look up.
“Forgive me.”
Lupita answered:
“I don’t know yet.”
Marta nodded.
That was healthier than forced forgiveness.
Meanwhile, Father Mateo’s defense argued that the recovered emails were being interpreted without theological context.
The phrase repeated placement, his attorney suggested, might refer to charitable placements or convent assignments.
The attached fertility tests made that argument difficult.
Dr. Cross, facing his own charges, eventually cooperated.
He testified that Mateo paid him to perform inseminations on sedated women at Santa Clara.
“Did Lupita ever consent in your presence?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Mateo said she had consented through religious authority.”
The prosecutor stared at him.
“You were a physician.”
“Former.”
“You knew an adult patient’s priest cannot consent to insemination for her.”
Cross lowered his head.
“Yes.”
That single answer stripped away years of elaborate language.
No miracle.
No ministry.
No spiritual consent.
May you like
Adults knew what consent required.
They chose not to obtain it.
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