Secrets and Lies

AUSTRALIA
ABC

September 24, 2019

“As long as you have priests, you will have children of Catholic priests.”

It has been an open secret for centuries. Catholic priests fathering children in breach of their vows of celibacy. But like other scandals it has faced, the Church has swept this issue under the carpet.

The children of priests have long suffered in silence and shame, their mothers pressured to keep quiet and keep the secret.

We follow the story of one Australian woman who discovered in middle age who her father was, and who’s determined to find out more.

“I remember thinking I can’t tell anybody. I now have to carry a secret”, she says. “Over a period of time, I realised…I can’t keep the secret and I need to step forward.”

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