Loved that Lexi, and Paul confirms it was true.
I spent a time as a kid in Sydney post ww2 and dad had to get settled.
23 houses all new fibro housing commission.
Ruled over by the Irish Catholic family next door.
They had tea and cakes with the Child welfare people.
And a list of the wrongs/ crimes of us, the rest of the non Catholic street.
On leaving and going back to the bush they passed me on the road in the bush town, stopped and in the style of Mrs Bucket questioned me.
I was no more than 8 but had my dad in me.
I informed them I was not to talk to strangers and they had always been the strangest I ever knew,
Father, 3 sons, and only daughter all served time in prison, so much for the self righteous.

While I'm in the story telling mode I would like to recount this one. I'll call it 'The Revenge Of The Student'. When I was in the 3rd year of Catholic High School, there was a certain hefty sized lad, Andrew Mont, Andrew was big, very very big, and oh so placid, Andrew wouldn't hurt a fly. Unfortunately for Andrew he was dumb, very very dumb. So Andrew was the biggest by far, and dumbest by far in our year. Since Andrew couldn't add 2 and 2 a certain maths master Brother Athernatious took great pleasure in building poor Andrews character. Br. Atho built Andrews character often, so often Andrew expected character-building from brother in every maths class and brother certainly obliged the lad. One day Atho was in an extremely foul mood, fouler than usual and after poor Andrew had scored 2 out of 20 in an Atho test, brother decided Andrew needed some major character-building. Andrew was no scrib and could take corporal punishment with the best of them, a 'sixer' was no problem for Andrew. Atho gave Andrew 6 of his best on one hand, and then another 6 on the other. But since Andrew had got 18 wrong Atho thought the lad deserved 18 not 12. Atho ordered Andrew to put out his other hand once again. Andrew refused crying "enough brother, enough", Atho was in a rage, he tried to belt poor Andrews hand into position. As Atho raised his cane to full height, big Andrew let go with a right jab to Atho's mid section, the punch contained all the power big Andrew could muster. Atho went down like a bucket of S###. Andrew got expelled and left school to work in his Dad's Tyre Business Atho continued on spiteful and nasty as ever, but we all kept fond memories of the day Monts took out Atho. Years later I met up with Andrew Mont, he was as big as ever and doing very well, seems he had natural ability when it came to tyres.

Dear Paul1405,

One can wish Andrew a happy retyrement.

Dear Paul,

How on earth did any of us survive those horrible,
narrow-minded influences? I guess it must be true -
what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But my
goodness - how many scars still remain, I wonder.
They have a lot to answer for that's for sure.

One thing a Catholic childhood can do is provide a great inspiration for literature. I am reading Joyce's 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." From that work a child's view of God:

“It was very big to think about everything and everywhere. Only God could do that. He tried to think what a big thought that must be but he could think only of God. God was God’s name just as his name was Stephen. Dieu was the French for God and that was God’s name too; and when anyone prayed to God and said Dieu then God knew at once that it was a French person that was praying. But though there were different names for God in all the different languages in the world and God understood what all the people who prayed said in their different languages still God remained always the same God and God’s real name was God.”

I am very much enjoying the company and thoughts of some very well balanced people here.
I do not base this on a deep dislike of my former home Christianity.
I feel nothing like that about any God.
Understand, think we all do, those times we spoke of while Catholics suffered more than most, we all did to some extent.
Underlining these true nibbles at the life we led is this.
How much control did/does the Church have?
Is it understood the Catholics even today seem at times to control Labor.
I fear, a true deep fear driven by my belief it is to come,
Religion is about to bring us to a war or some thing like it, more terrorism, that will one day impose on us all governments of less freedom.
Why did so very many stand and let kids be treated as seen here in the name of a God?