Was my mother the child of a Catholic priest?

Vivien Prior's parent has agelong suspected she was the concealed kid of a Catholic clergyman but her girl had nary proof.

It was not until 1990s that Vivien archetypal saw a photograph of the antheral she thinks is her grandfather.

"I was rather shocked to spot the likeness - to spot the photograph and think, 'of people mum was close - of people he's her father'," Vivien says.

Her grandma Georgina was housekeeper to Father Joseph Brough, a Catholic clergyman who served successful Carnoustie and Dundee for astir 40 years aft being ordained successful 1909.

She believes her parent Josephine was calved successful concealed successful 1928, earlier being enactment into foster attraction successful Suffolk, hundreds of miles distant successful the south-east of England.

Vivien says: "Of course, mum was suspicious, due to the fact that she was named aft him, wasn't she? Her sanction was Josephine."

Ordained Roman Catholic priests instrumentality a vow of clerical celibacy and are not permitted to participate into intersexual relationships.

Vivien, who is present 65, says: "I person nary thought truly astir their lives astatine all, and I americium astir apt ne'er going to find out, due to the fact that determination is cipher live present who knew them personally."

But she would similar answers connected wherefore Father Brough had nary assignment successful the religion betwixt 1928 and 1932 - thing that coincided with the play instantly aft her mother's birth.

"The authoritative mentation from the Catholic religion is that it was a permission of lack due to the fact that of sick health, but I don't cognize however reliable that is," she says.

"Whether it was due to the fact that helium had to instrumentality that permission of absence, whether helium was successful disgrace, whether helium had to spell distant and contemplate his vocation - that is the benignant of happening I'd similar to cognize really, I'd similar to find retired much astir it."

Coping International is an organisation which advocates for children of clergy and it believes determination are thousands of radical astir the satellite who are children of priests.

Its laminitis Vincent Doyle acceptable up the organisation successful 2011 aft discovering his ain begetter was a priest.

"I thought to myself determination is nary mode that I americium the lone one," helium says.

The communal acquisition for those contacting his organisation is that "they were told 'you are an perfectly unsocial phenomenon, children of priests don't exist'."

"For immoderate crushed I ne'er believed that, due to the fact that it made nary consciousness to me."

He says galore children of clergy acquisition a "sense of shame", which often comes from wrong their ain families.

Through his work, Mr Doyle travelled to the Vatican successful 2017, and said helium was shown an interior papers which outlines however to woody with priests who begetter children. The Vatican has confirmed the beingness of the document.

Vivien's parent Josephine died successful 2016 and could ne'er corroborate her suspected existent father's identity, though she ever suspected it was Father Brough.

Josephine's parent Georgina, who had been Father Brough's housekeeper, died from TB erstwhile she was conscionable 35 - earlier Josephine discovered she was truly her mother.

Georgina would question from Scotland to Suffolk to sojourn her daughter, nether the guise of being her aunt.

Before his decease successful 1947, Josephine went to Father Brough and asked him straight if helium was her begetter - thing helium denied.

One happening Vivien has been capable to observe done census records is successful 1939 - erstwhile Josephine was 11 and surviving hundreds of miles distant successful Suffolk - Georgina was surviving successful Scotland with Father Brough.

Vivien says: "I deliberation it made her rather a pugnacious person, due to the fact that determination was rather a stigma backmost successful the 1930s to beryllium illegitimate, and it was assumed she was illegitimate, due to the fact that she was surviving with foster parents."

Until recently, the lone impervious to backmost up Josephine's suspicions was a photograph discovered successful the 1990s which showed a likeness betwixt the 2 of them.

There person been frustrated attempts to entree further records.

Vivien was provided with a abbreviated announcement published aft Father Brough's decease successful 1947, but past told each different records which could person held cardinal accusation were burnt by the bishop of the clip upon his retirement.

"I consciousness determination indispensable beryllium much information," says Vivien.

"And conscionable being told determination isn't due to the fact that it has been destroyed, oregon it conscionable doesn't exist, it conscionable makes you question that truly and wonderment if that is reliable accusation oregon not."

In 2018, Vivien utilized DNA investigating to hint her ancestors online.

Through a communal descendant, AncestryDNA recovered a lucifer with Thomas Brough - Joseph Brough's grandfather.

While it is not definitive impervious of a nexus to Joseph Brough, a spokeswoman for AncestryDNA said the ancestral lucifer is "incredibly reliable".

"If you and different idiosyncratic are matches, it means that you some stock DNA from 1 oregon much caller communal ancestors and are related successful immoderate way," she said.

"It's conscionable a shame truly that we got much confirmation aft mum had died," Vivien says.

While astir the main characters successful this portion of her family's communicative whitethorn beryllium dead, Vivien's anticipation to observe the information continues.

"There are members of my household that look connected it arsenic a romanticist emotion story," she says.

"But I'm not truthful definite astir that truly due to the fact that I deliberation to springiness up your babe astatine six weeks aged to foster parents, that's a immense wrench, isn't it?"

In effect to Vivien's story, a spokesperson for the Catholic religion said "while it is not imaginable to remark connected an allegation made astir a period ago, astir idiosyncratic who died seventy 5 years ago" the Diocese of Dunkeld had "in bully faith" passed connected each records it holds.