Tell No One
'After decades of searching, I discovered that my birth parents were an outback Catholic priest and a nun. 'Tell No One' explores the questions, anxieties and reflections arising from this hidden past.
When I was eight years old, my parents told me I was adopted. In my late twenties, I found out the identity of my birth mother – but she wanted nothing to do with me.
For thirty years there was only limited communication with my birth mother, and I knew nothing about my birth father. In 2018, a DNA test led me to the truth: I'm the son of a missionary priest. He had studied in a Trappist monastery in Ireland, had a career as a house builder, was a Bondi Lifesaver, a trophy-winning ballroom dancer, was a landscape painter, met Mother Teresa and toured the world.
An astounding story of scandal, deception and coercion had been uncovered, a truth that must be told.'
Brendan Watkins
'Watkins has achieved something that few memoirists can, laying bare a disturbing history with compassion and humanity. 'Tell No One' is an important story that demands to be told.'
Monica Dux, author of 'Lapsed'.
The Walkley's are the Australian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes
‘This powerful and superbly written debut by Brendan Watkins takes the reader on a confronting and gripping journey from the very first pages. Brendan’s narrative voice is compelling throughout, leading the reader to understand the unbridled power and control that the Catholic Church has over children of priests.
Thought provoking and confronting, Watkins peppers his own story with excellent research on the treatment and outcomes for the children of priests. It is a brilliant and must-read book about a global protection racket for priests and their children, and the mothers who paid the price.’
Suzanne Smith, author of 'The Altar Boys' & 6x Walkley Award–winning journalist
'I read 'Tell No One' in one sitting. I could not put it down. Everyone needs to know where they come from. Brendan's persistence against secrecy and lies was a powerful reminder that many end their lives without knowing.
I so wanted a fairytale ending and then I remembered how cruel institutionalised religious power is to children and women. Read it and weep and then get strategic - it has to end.’
Wendy McCarthy AO
ADVOCACY RESPONSE
'Tell No One' was published on 8 August 2023. The ABC TV Compass episode focusing on Brendan’s story, 'Hidden Children' was aired in parallel. As a consequence of the book and follow-on media revelations, Federal Minister David Shoebridge called on the Australian Attorney General to commence a formal inquiry:
"There clearly needs to be an inquiry which has the power to compel the truth out of the church.”
“We cannot leave these people who were literally stolen at birth by the church to do this fight alone. This is a matter that I think needs to be closely considered by the Federal Attorney General and by the federal government.”
(Reference: ABC News Australia)
Read the correspondence between Senator David Shoebridge & the Australian Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus HERE
Former Catholic nun, philosopher, theologian and author, Dr Doris Reisinger, joined Shoebridge and Vanish, an Australian adoption advocacy agency to call for an independent public inquiry into the treatment of the children of priests and their mothers.
Additionally, scores of denied sons and daughters of the church have made contact, some coming forward to share their stories publicly.
