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A REALITY THAT is not often discussed in Irish life is that some priests have children.
To find themselves in this position, a child faces a number of challenges and difficulties – often compounded by a curtain of secrecy.
A new organisation named ‘Coping – Children of Priests International’ has been set up to try and assist children and help them come to terms with their circumstances.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, the founder of the organisation, John*, who has personal experience in the area, explained that for the group, “sensationalism is avoided and privacy maintained so as to afford confidence.”
How many children are affected internationally?
The website, which was launched around six months ago, has been visited more than 15,000 times and has an international outreach, with visitors from the United States, Italy, India and Australia.
One major issue facing children of priests is secrecy. On this, John said:
As regards ‘being an issue’ some individuals suffer tremendously beneath the weight of the church, being forced into secrecy, and others have been treated very well, with conceptions [ranging from] consensual to criminal.
“Secrecy risks putting someone else’s agenda before the child’s best interest, thus becoming adult-centred not child-centred,” he said.
What can the church do?
On improvements that can be made by the church, John put a focus on celibacy.
“If a grown man or woman decides to be celibate, good luck to them, if they become a parent, they have responsibilities. To refocus onto a different agenda other than parental responsibility is to become distracted and lose focus on the issue at heart, a child, a human being, innocent in all of this confusion,” he said.
Professor Patricia Casey, a psychiatrist working with UCD, acts as a public spokesperson for the group and decided to get involved as she believes “it is very important for children to know who both of their parents are, where possible”.
Speaking about this, she said, “I think there are problems being faced by children of priests that children in other circumstances wouldn’t face.”
For example there might be, as with any child who doesn’t know their father, there might be a sense of emptiness. There might also be the sense that perhaps this priest that they know, that they bear a likeness to them, or that they have an affinity with them, but not quite know what the affinity is.
At current, the group is in the process of growing, and does not operate as a charity. It has however received funding from the Church of Ireland who have also helped provide free counselling.
*John is a pseudonym being used for confidentiality reasons.
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very moving documentary and very difficult to watch. just goes to show that how a person is treated as a child stays with them all through life.
Nomination for Nobel Peace Prize. I hope Christina and her siblings schedule re-unions a few times each year. They deserve to have the time to be together without the intrusion of media and cameras. It might help them fill the empty space that they hover over at the moment. Each of the four no doubt have their own separate circles of friends. They need now to be afforded the space to reaffirm that special circle of friends called family.
She has such passion for children.she is an inspiration to us all.it was a compelling programme
I read her book nearly two decades ago and it still haunts me. I couldn’t understand how her work in Vietnam wasn’t more well known but maybe her account of her childhood was probably too raw for a lot of people. She’s been a personal inspiration.
Some people when they’re at their happiest (singing) show real pain .
Wonderful to see how television reached the hearts of the Irish people (the word premiere was held in Dublin last September). And don’t miss the film NOBLE when it comes around again. It would be nice now to have Journalists, Senators and Politicians comment on Christina Noble’s story, in the context of what is happening in Geneva right now, as Ireland faces the United Nations condemnation of our serious lapses with Human Rights at home.
After watching the programme I think Christina has mentally suffered from her years in an institution you can see the hatred in her against the government and the church at the time and I think her way to deal with that is to look after those unfortunate children .one part where I thought she was out of order was when she made a verbal attack on what she thought was a priest ,you know a lot o priests were sickened as to what happened to these kids too there are a lot of good priest out there . .One more thing I want to say ,I was also institutionalised in an industrial school for years just for not going to school and was abused also but like Jesus I have learned to forgive but not forget I always say those abusers will have to face judgement some day but overall I feel so sorry for Christina for the way it has affected her
@ joeythelad, i agree with you , i found it difficult to watch as christina’s pain is very evident and of course well founded. i was also surprised with the response she got in the pub , dont why ? what i find surprising is that many people either dont know that she is irish or dont know anything about her work at all!
i hope herself and her family have the time they need to try and bond and she finds some peace. so glad that you have learned to forgive , i am not so sure i could forgive, all the best
What a great woman
Nice house in Texas as well
denise, did you watch the programme? what has her brothers house in texas got to do with it? such an odd comment for this story!
I know,Denise !
What should we do about it ? Genuine question .
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