Pope lauds support group for children of priests

A group offering support to the children of priests has relaunched its website with an acknowledgement from Pope Francis.

Coping International began in December last year and, while operating out of Ireland, has received contact from children of priests from other countries, including the US and the Philippines.

It has now relaunched its website, which features an acknowledgement of its work from the Pope.

Coping International received a letter from the Vatican on behalf of the Pontiff, which stated: “Please be assured of His Holiness’ appreciation for the concerns and charitable sentiments that motivate your initiatives together with a remembrance in his prayers.”

According to the unnamed spokesperson for the group: “Over 20% of search key phrases that brought people to Coping include words such as ‘Catholic priests who are biological to children’, ‘priest’s children’ and ‘I am pregnant and the dad is a Catholic priest’.”

The spokesman said the organisation now has active cases in the Philippines, the UK, Uganda, and Ireland .

“It would seem that this area is not as ‘small’ as some might have preferred it to be.

“Children of Catholic priests in Ireland have been found to be adopted and a number of adoptees who have approached Coping for assistance have confirmed that, in addition to the usual irritating red tape they encountered gaining access to their birth certs — there had been many fires and some documents had been destroyed.

“One client of Coping was handed her documents by a priest who then told her to not go knocking on any doors digging up the past; it turned out this man was her own biological father, who asked her to point out her name from a ledger that he presented her.”

www.copinginternational.com