John Joseph O'Connor

When we were children and engrossed ourselves in "The Three Musketeers", we learned to hate The Cardinal. (Richelieu, natch, but for every musketeer fan, he will always simply be "The Cardinal".) The Cardinal was pure evil.

Ever since, when we saw cardinals mentioned in real life, we couldn't help but be a tad wary. Perhaps because they are powerful Catholic figures, and we are Jews. Not exactly a historically friendly combination.

But then, we found about Cardinal O'Connor of New York. He was quite... a mensch. Outspoken opponent of antisemitism, defender of Holocaust victims, Jew. Yes, you heard that right, Jew.

Well, sort of. O'Connor's mother was born Jewish, but converted and hid it from her family. So it's possible that the cardinal wasn't even aware of his partial Jewishness.

We guess not all cardinals are pure evil...

Verdict: **Barely a Jew**.

_September 25, 2014_