Synopsis

Steve Hyndes recounts his experiences with indoctrination, disillusionment and separation from the Church.

At the age of 11, after the death of his father, Steve's teenage years were in the strong fundamentalist environment of the Catholic Church of the 1950s in Sydney.

Trapped in that mind-set, Steve aged 17, entered the seminary in 1956 and was ordained priest in 1962.

The Church environment and the celibate lifestyle became unbearable. He left that world in 1976.
Separating from the Church and cleansing his mind and spirit of the effects of the indoctrination was a slow and at times painful process.

Life skills had to be learnt and a working career established. Nevertheless he found that the relief and benefits of leaving were immense.

He and his wife Paula, a former nun, supported each other as they sought to reclaim control of their lives, establish their family and free themselves of the imaginary world of the Catholic Church. The inescapable humour of life helped greatly in this journey.