Original subtitles

Previously on Forgive Me.

You're going to hear things in this booth

That you'll spend the rest of your life wishing that you never heard.

Wishing you could could unhear

You'll carry things to your grave, things that test you.

Things that haunt you.

I think I already have

You think that these are actually saints

apprearing to you, angels?

If your bosses see the letter itgoing to give them a chance to cover it up

cover it up more!

I don't think that they would cover this up

Genesius did

What do you need?

Oh, hi.

Where did you go?

Hello? John?

John?

Jesus christ, John! John! Gene! Help me! John. John!

Did he say anything to you this morning?

I saw him after prayers.

He had just finished breakfast and I was just starting.

What did he say?

He asked me if I ever thought I'd leave the priesthood.

Would or could?

I'm& I'm not sure.

What did you say?

I laughed. And he said-we're lifers. So I thought he was wondering

about, you know, whether you leave or stick this all out.

Why would he do this?

You can't know what goes on in someone's mind.

Did he confess this week? Or last week?

Not to me.

No, me neither.

Well, I better call the bishops office.

You think the bishops going to care?

The parish is without its head. There's no one

empowered to make decisions. And as you

know, there are a lot of decisions to be made.

Hi.

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.

It's been four or five months since my last confession.

Hi.

Is it true? About the Prelate? You know, what they say?

He's dead, yeah.

He killed himself?

I don't know what his family is going to choose to divulge.

Was it because of me? Cause of the lawsuit-

No, the uh, the Prelate had some other issues.

Bigger than the parish getting shut down?

Who told you that the parish is being shut down?

The mediator. Said it was a possibility if I pursued a claim.

Maybe it was a negotiating tactic.

Was it?

I don't know. Believe it

or not, they don't tell me everything, they don't tell me much of anything.

So it's not closing down?

Not to my knowledge, at least not yet.

Then that's why he did it.

Listen, Smith, Johnny. I know it's not really very convenient

for you to have to drive across the harbour and go into the

north end, but don't you think maybe you should find another church to

make your confessions?

That's what you think?

Look, there's a conflict of interest here. I helped you file a lawsuit

against my parish. You should find a new priest.

You think I came forward with this horror from my childhood

so I could leave the church? This is my church.

Why would you want to be here?

Why would I want to be in my own church?

Where I was baptized? had my first communion and confession? My confirmation?

Where I came every Sunday and Tuesday for most of my life.

Where you told me in this booth that I should tell the truth?

I, I understand why you come here I'm just saying

doesn't it trigger painful memories to be here?

I have a lot of memories of this place.

They're not all that one bad thing.

Ok.

Even my memories of him. They're not all bad.

We were a good choir. I had friends here. My mother was here all of the time.

If I came home after school and she wasn't there she was

either at the store, or she was here. At the bingo or

serving sandwiches at a funeral for a person she didn't even know.

I-I loved it here

Sermons were some bullshit,

but better than home.

You're right. You're right. You're right and it's as much your church as it is mine.

Probably even more so, eh?

I came forward with what happened to me here to make it a better church.

Not to bring it down, not to ... as some parting shot as I left.

Look, I'm not I'm not attacking you.

No, no.

I was just thinking about Father John. Prelate.

Maybe this was all his parting shot. He didn't want to just leave the

church, he wanted to do it ina way he knew was going to haunt me.

Why would he want to haunt you?

Nevermind. Ummm. Do you have a confession you want to make?

I started a legal action that I knew could end this parish

and make this church a parking lot.

I'm not sure that's a sin. Certainly your moral right-it's your legal right.

You think on balance that money in my hands is

going to do as much good as this church? Don't you guys

run some kind of a shelter in the winter?

We house the shelter, the volunteers actually run it.

Yeah, yeah. So next year in the winter,

these people, they could freeze to death on the street because of me.

You could be out of a job.

You could be out of the ministry. This-this

whole place could get pulled down. Piller by piller.

Stained glass windows, pew by pew. Raised to the rock,

paved over. You're telling me that is not a sin?

It's not. Because it's not something you did,

it's something that happened to you.

No. No.

You give me some credit. I did this. I made a choice.

I didn't keep his secret.

Now everyone knows.

Listen the congregation doesn't know about your lawsuit, alright?

The church is not going to go around announcing all these details-

Everybody knows. You don't think I see the way they

look at me? Their voices change.

They talk low when they talk about me.

It's who I am.

Being screwed in this church defines me. To everyone.

That's not how people think.

Please.

It's not.

Maybe if I had accomplished

something in my life but I didn't.

Just a boy who got screwed in the church.

Is that really how you see yourself?

Maybe.

Don't have any other ambitions.

But now I don't need any, huh?

Going to be rich.

Hi.

How are you doing?

We were both here for decades.

Doing the same job, living similar lives. We each had

someone who knew what the other was going through.

We didn't agree on anything politically or on the meaning of doctrine.

But you know. We liked to spar and joke.

He was the most constant thing in my life for decades.

I'm not sure I know how to do this without him.

You do, Gene. And you can fill his shoes-

you know how he would do it better than anybody.

No. I'm an old relic, tainted by an old scandal.

The bishop's office called. You're the new Prelate.

Why do you think he did it?

I don't know. I really didn't know that he was so unhappy. You ok?

Look, I never liked the guy.

He didn't like me. He wouldn't let me live with you.

I don't know that he didn't like you.

He was just trying to protect the parish from a scandal.

I never felt like I was a scandal until I met you.

I want to do better. I want to be a better father. Are you happy here?

It's fine. It's stable, things stay the same.

I never had that before.

I love you, Noelle. Ok, I do. I'm very proud of you.

Pride isn't something you keep a secret.

Sometimes it's gotta be.

John Dominic: Hello, Father.

Sister John Dominic.

John Dominic: Noelle is doing extremely well.

Especially with extra curriculars.

I'll, uh, I'll see you next week.

John Dominic: You know we do have a few other orphans you could spend some time with

if you'd like to keep up your cover story.

if you'd like to keep up your I like that idea.

I like that idea.

John Dominic: Neither of them are really orphans but nobody visits them.

Well just let me know when I can meet with them.

John Dominic: I was very sorry to hear about your loss.

These must be very hard times for you.

Thank you. Really. I appreciate your prayers.

John Dominic: You'll be in mine.

The changes'll be hard on all of us, but mostly on you.

Yeah, yeah I'm the prelate now so.

John Dominic: I heard. And why is that?

Well, the only priest in the parish not of retirement age.

John Dominic: So the Bishop appointed someone who

facilitated an expensive lawsuitagainst the parish to run the parish.

Those mistakes were made before my time.

John Dominic: Father, have you done anything of distinction

to earn the highest position of authority in the parish?

Good deeds? Accomplishments?

No.

John Dominic: So there must be another reason?

It was always the plan.

John Dominic: So soon?

No.

John Dominic: How would one hide a scandal?

A bigger scandal?

John Dominic: Like a parish being run by a priest with a secret bastard child?

You really think that the Bishop is going to

use my daughter as a reason to close the parish? Is it that big of a scandal?

John Dominic: Can you think of any other reason why you'd be promoted?

I figured the church wascash strapped from the lawsuit and they

only had enough money for one priest.

John Dominic: So they would chose you.

Genesius was implicated in the cover up.

They asked him to retire.

You made your point.

John Dominic: When a parish closes, its secrets and problems tend

to disappear with it. You are going to lose this church.

They are going to turn the parish against you.

For lying, and pretending to be something you're not.

That's not true.

John Dominic: Doesn't have to be true.

What do I do?

John Dominic: I don't know that there is anything you can do.

You could not take the job.

Take your daughter and go.

I mean, it would make it very easy for them to discredit you with the people of the parish,

but it may save you and Noelle

some heartache in the long run to just get it over quickly.

And what happens to the church?

John Dominic: It will be sold off market and demolished by a developer within 24 hours.

I know. And I don't want that.

John Dominic: So why not convince your friend not to sue?

He's not my friend.

John Dominic: Does he know that?

I don't know. It wouldn't, uhhh& it wouldn't feel moral.

John Dominic: [laughs] Alright, then it's you versus your superiors.

Do you have anything on them?

Just everything they're trying to cover up.

Oh, I started without you, I didn't know when you were going to be back.

It's alright, I should have told you I was going to see Noelle after school today.

Ah, how is she?

She feels like nobody wants her. But she's thriving there.

Well, I was never opposedto her living here. That was John.

She's in her last year.

I don't want to mess around with something that's working.

Gene, when I was there today,

Sister John Dominic espoused a theory that the reason I was chosen

to be Prelate is because the Bishop's hoping the situation with my daughter

might be a scandal that overshadows the O'Leary settlement.

That's interesting. I thought it might be because

they would think you might die before I do.

I might.

Well, either way, we all think that they're preparing

to sacrifice this parish to protect the greater church.

Protect their own asses, actually.

Hmmm, do you think any of this could really touch them?

I think it can touch the Bishop.

I think it could go higher if there's somebody willing to dig

into things but if they settle the lawsuit and tear down

the rectory and the church nobody is going to look into anything.

I don't know, maybe that's better.

Johnny gets his justice, the entire community loses a church.

Well, they might have to drive a little further.

Will they?.

They've offered me a quiet and humble retirement.

Where?

A seniors home.

Are you going to take it?

I mean, I wouldn't blame you if you want to leave quietly.

I don't want to stop working. That wouldn't be my choice.

Don't forget they're dismantling an enterprise that I spent

40 years building and caring for. And now it's going to die on my watch.

On my watch actually.

Hi.

Hey.

You were right.

Everybody who works for the church thinks they're going to settle this lawsuit with

you and tear down the parish to pay for it.

It's not even to make anything right with you.

It's just going to be to protect the reputations

of the guys at the top that knew you were abused by a church employee and chose to

cover it up. Just think about it before you settle.

How did you find this out?

How do I find anything out?

Next time on Forgive Me

Your Excellency, may I ask why you're here?

Keep your friends close, as the saying goes.

It was your recklessness with O'Leary

that got us into this mess!

We could go somewhere else. I could do a different job.

I'm not gonna run off anywhere with you.

If we stay here, there's gonna be people

who will try and make it public that I'm your father.

Hello? Sebastian?