BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Hidden Children of the Church

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BBC Radio 4 - Hidden Children of the Church

The secret lives of Catholic priests' children.

Three children of Catholic priests share their experiences of a secretive childhood.

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.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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