13 Feb 2018

Priests 'probably fathered thousands' - Catholic sociologist

From Morning Report, 7:53 am on 13 February 2018

A Catholic sociologist says priests alive today have probably fathered thousands of children worldwide - but that most of those children would already have been told. About six New Zealanders have told an international support network their father is or was a priest. The network Coping International says it is common for the priest to try to keep it secret. One Auckland woman who spoke out on Morning Report says she found out only after her mother and the priest had died. Father Paul Sullins of the Catholic University of America told RNZ reporter Phil Pennington it's estimated 2 to 3 percent of the world's 400,000 priests have fathered children - at least 8,000 children.