Hidden Children Of The Church

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20200331

For decades, the Catholic Church rarely acknowledged the fact that supposedly ‘celibate' priests were fathering children. The scale and impact of these secretive births is only now coming to light. The Vatican does not deny that there could be as many as 10 thousand children of Catholic priests living around the world. Many of them - now adults - describe childhoods separated from their fathers; shrouded in secrecy and shame. Three of them - Vincent Doyle, Michael McGuirk and Sarah Thomas - tell their stories.

Producer: Dan Tierney.

The secret lives of Catholic priests' children.

2020033120200405 (R4)

For decades, the Catholic Church rarely acknowledged the fact that supposedly ‘celibate' priests were fathering children. The scale and impact of these secretive births is only now coming to light. The Vatican does not deny that there could be as many as 10 thousand children of Catholic priests living around the world. Many of them - now adults - describe childhoods separated from their fathers; shrouded in secrecy and shame. Three of them - Vincent Doyle, Michael McGuirk and Sarah Thomas - tell their stories.

Producer: Dan Tierney.

The secret lives of Catholic priests' children.