By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp
During the Angelus on Sunday, 14 February, Pope Francis commented on the Gospel passage in which Jesus cures a leper. In that discourse, the Pope brought attention to the fact that many people today suffer not only from leprosy, but also from other “illnesses and conditions that carry social stigmas with them.”
Some of today’s outcasts
Children of priests suffer from one of the “conditions” within the Catholic Church. No one can better describe what this burden is like than one of these children.
“A darker world exists, veiled by history, lies and deception. I lived in this world though I was born into it, thus knowing no difference. This is a world that is buoyed by conditions, and if the child of a priest does not obey these scrupulous conditions, they are ostracised, to begin with. Harm and emotional abuse permeate the duration of their lives; harm is normalised for these people.