Controversial Irish singer Sinead O'Connor, who tore up a picture of Pope John

Paul II on "Saturday Night Live" in 1992, has been ordained a Roman Catholic priest,

according to several news reports. The singer reportedly will be known as Mother

Bernadette Maria of the Order of Mater Dei, thanks to her ordination by Bishop Michael

Cox, leader of a breakaway sect known as the Latin Tridentine Church.

The Roman Catholic Church does not acknowledge women as priests. The ordination

reportedly took place in Lourdes, France. The porter of the Hotel De La Grotte in Lourdes

confirmed that the singer checked out of the luxury hotel Tuesday (April 27) after a

four-day stay. Cox also was a hotel guest during that time, according to the porter.

O'Connor has been working on her first album for Atlantic Records; it is expected in the

second half of 1999.