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Hidden children of the Church
The secret children of supposedly celibate priests.
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 10,000 children of Catholic priests living around the world. Many who are now adults describe childhoods separated from their fathers, shrouded in secrecy and shame. For this Heart and Soul, three of them – Vincent Doyle, Michael McGuirk and Sarah Thomas – tell their stories.
Produced by Dan Tierney
Last on
Mon 2 Aug 2021
02:32GMT
´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service
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- Fri 30 Jul 2021 03:32GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service South Asia
- Fri 30 Jul 2021 12:32GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service East and Southern Africa, Americas and the Caribbean, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only
- Sat 31 Jul 2021 15:32GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service News Internet
- Sun 1 Aug 2021 08:32GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
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- Sun 1 Aug 2021 23:32GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service
- Mon 2 Aug 2021 02:32GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service
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Heart and Soul
Personal approaches to religious belief from around the world.