Free The Hiltons: The True Story of an American Dynasty by J. Randy Taraborrelli

encourage so-called mixed marriages, such unions were still possible if performed by a priest not in the church but in the rectory, and also if the non-Catholic party agreed to raise all children as Catholics. A much bigger problem for Conrad in marrying Zsa Zsa was that the Catholic Church did not recognize the divorce from his first wife, Mary Barron. Therefore, as far as the church was concerned, he was still married to Mary. Any subsequent marriage would not be acknowledged by the church.
    For Conrad, this stringent Catholic doctrine presented a major moral and spiritual dilemma. If he wanted to take Zsa Zsa as a wife, he would have to be married in a civil ceremony that would not be sanctioned by the church. He would then have to live with the consequences, which would include his not being able to partake in the Catholic Church’s sacraments such as Holy Communion and Reconciliation (better known as Confession). Hilton was devout in his faith; would he be able to live with the idea of being so ostracized by the church? No. It was inconceivable. Therefore, to try to come to terms with the problem at hand, Conrad had called this meeting at his home.
    “So, what do you gentlemen think of this?” he asked
    “I think you have no choice in the matter,” Father Malone offered. “You can’t go against the church, Connie.”
    “I admit that I’m just not used to being told no,” Conrad admitted. “But that’s not it entirely. This is just an exploratory meeting anyway,” he added, framing it almost as he would a business deal.
    “Well, I suppose a canonical dispensation might be possible,” offered Father Malone.
    Conrad raised his eyebrows. “Is such a thing even possible?” he asked. No one in the meeting knew for certain, but they quickly decided it was as good an idea as anyone could come up with under the circumstances.
    “I don’t know,” the priest concluded. “It seems far-fetched, but maybe worth a try.”
    “Would you try?” Conrad asked the priest. “All I ask is that you at least see what can be done.”
    Father Malone said he would try.

Conrad Breaks the News to Zsa Zsa
    T he granting of a canonical dispensation simply so that a person who would otherwise not be entitled to do so could marry in the Catholic Church was almost never granted in those days. After Vatican II convened in the 1960s, such dispensations became more commonplace. But in the 1940s, it was practically unheard of. However, when Conrad met with certain officials of the church in Los Angeles, he was led to believe that his charitable contributions to the church might be so appreciated that there would possibly be a way to work around the red tape involved in a dispensation. Certainly, he had given huge sums of money to the church, and in 1940 he had donated more than $50,000 to Catholic charities—a staggering amount for the time. Therefore, Hilton left his meeting with the church officials hopeful that something could be worked out that would allow him to marry in the Catholic Church. He was elated. He knew there had to be some way around this matter. There was always a way, always an alternative—at least that had been his experience in life.
    But then a week later Conrad received a telephone call from a friend of his, Father Kelly, telling him that there was not enough time to file the necessary paperwork if he wanted to marry in April, as he had said he did. Moreover, upon closer investigation, even if he delayed the wedding, it was unlikely that a dispensation would be possible.
    The next morning, Conrad and Zsa Zsa took a walk through one of the lush gardens of his estate, just one of many that were filled with an abundance of vivid flowers planted in herbaceous borders. It was a sunny day with a bright blue sky that was lightly scattered with white clouds. “My dear, there’s something I must tell you,” he began.
    “What is so wrong?” Zsa Zsa asked. Catching the tension in his voice, she knew it was bad