The Catholic Church has acknowledged that one of its priests, Father Joseph Kelly, fathered a child in the 1960s.
This was discovered decades after his death following a determined campaign by Linda Kelly-Lawless.
Kelly-Lawless, born in 1962, used advanced autosomal DNA testing to prove her biological connection to Fr Kelly without the need to exhume his remains, as reported by Australian Associated Press (AAP).
She presented evidence from US-based Parabon NanoLabs, linking her to relatives on both sides of Fr Kelly’s family with 99 per cent certainty.
“I was the first person in Australia to do this test for paternity. It's also used for cold-case files,” she said.
The discovery came after years of silence surrounding her parentage.
“It was a hidden secret and my mother took it with her to the grave,” she explained.
When her aunt later confirmed the identity of her father, Kelly-Lawless began a six-year journey seeking recognition from the church.
Initially, Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli suggested that exhumation might be necessary, but after receiving the DNA evidence, affidavits, and a genealogical family tree, he wrote in an April 2025 letter: “From the materials that you have presented, I want to assure you that I believe that Fr Kelly was your biological father.”
While the church has not clarified whether this constitutes official recognition, Kelly-Lawless’ birth certificate has now been legally updated by New South Wales (NSW) authorities to name Fr Kelly as her father.
Reflecting on her struggle, she said: “This was not about winning, it was about the church doing the right thing.
"It's been very traumatic and I understand why people walk away from the church.”