VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
Philomena Lee, the woman who inspired Stephen Frears’ Oscar-nominated film “Philomena”, gave an interview at the end of a press conference in Rome yesterday. When Philomena became a teenage mother, she was sent to a convent and forced to give up her baby son when he was born.
IACOPO SCARAMUZZI
ROME
In a statement given after Wednesday’s General Audience in the Vatican, she said she felt “honoured” and “delighted” to have met Pope Francis. She said she no longer felt bitterness towards the Catholic Church: “After such a long time — Anthony would be 62 this year — so how could I go through a whole of life holding a grudge?” But she confessed that at the start of her ordeal she did feel hurt, sad and angry and added that yesterday’s brief encounter finally liberated her from an entire life of shame. Philomena Lee is an elderly Irish lady. Back in 1952, when she was still just a teenager, she got pregnant out of wedlock. She was sent to a convent as many other teenage mothers were at the time and when her son was born she was forced to give him up. The child was sent to the United States, where Philomena went to search for him 50 years later, accompanied by journalist Martin Sixsmith. Now her story has been made into a film directed by Stephen Frears. “Philomena” has been a box office smash hit and was nominated for an Oscar. The real Philomena told her story and spoke about her meeting with Pope Francis at a press conference held at Hotel Eden in Rome yesterday morning.
“It was a great honour to meet the Pope; he is a special person; he moved me,” Philomena Lee said. Answering journalists’ questions about the film, accompanied by Steve Coogan, the star, co-writer and producer of “Philomena”, Lee said her meeting with the Pope was “very brief”. “The Pope welcomed us and listed to us carefully,” she said.
What did you feel when you met the Pope?
“You were made to feel so bad about having a baby out of wedlock. I’ve carried the guilt inside for 50 years, without telling anybody. The only person who knew about it was my brother. When I met the Pope yesterday I finally felt liberated, I no longer had to feel guilty. I hope and I believe that Pope Francis will stand beside me in my fight to help thousands of mothers and children shed light on the truth regarding their own stories.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.