A Compleat Translation of the Whole Case of Mary Catherine Cadière, Against the Jesuit Father John Baptist Girard, in a Memorial, Presented to the Parliament of Aix.
The case between Catherine Cadière and her spiritual director, Jean-Baptiste Girard, was a famous and closely-followed scandal of its time. She accused him of seduction, "spiritual incest" (that is, introducing sex into a religious relationship of power), witchcraft, and heresy. The case was so notorious that the Crown intervened, ordering the Parlement of Aix to try the complaint. Of course, the case and trial were titillating. Clerical impropriety has always been fascinating, and this case included more than its share of perverse behavior as well as more mundane sexual relations. The controversy also embodied a deep political and religious division in France centering on the role of the Society of Jesus, the Jansenists, and the monarchy. As it happened, trying the case did not settle it; the Parlement issued a split decision. Twelve of the judges decided that Girard should be burned; the other twelve called for Cadière to be hanged.
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