Celibacy, a Love Story: Memoir of a Catholic Priest's Daughter

Mimi Bull was adopted in the late 1930s by an older woman with an adult daughter. Years later, she learned the secret truth: the women were her grandmother and biological mother, and the story of her adoption had been concocted to shield her mother's reputation and hide the fact that her father was the gregarious young parish priest everyone adored. The Catholic Church has only recently begun to acknowledge the existence of children of priests, and Bull writes candidly of the emotional toll this policy of secrecy and denial took on her.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 30 June 2019
Publisher: Bauhan (William L.),U.S.

Mimi Bull, raised in a secure and content environment surrounded by the love of her family, friends, and neighbors, never questioned the unusual circumstances that led to her adoption in the late 1930s by an older woman with an adult daughter. It took years for her to uncover the hidden truth: the women were her grandmother and her biological mother, and the story of her adoption was crafted not only to protect her mother's reputation but also to conceal the fact that her father was the beloved young parish priest adored by everyone. Recently, the Catholic Church has begun to acknowledge the existence of children of priests, and Bull candidly shares the emotional toll that this policy of secrecy and denial has had on her. She expresses her desire to have lived a life with her loving parents, knowing who they all were, understanding her father's family from the beginning, and avoiding the forty years of depression that affected her and those she loved.

Weight: 380g
Dimension: 226 x 143 x 11 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780872332867