Original subtitles

Previously on 'Forgive Me':

You're saying repeat the treatment?

More aggressively.

What if we don't?

No growth.

That's greats news!

More chemo?

No more chemo.

Are you sure?

I'm sure.

Okay! Go to work!

Everyone knows everyone else's business, it's a small town.

What are they saying?

Why is it your business?

I don't know.

I didn't want to tell her I was her father

and then die a week later.

Maybe your daughter is a reason to live.

Leonard is almost 30 years old.

That's to my mother.

I think I should sue.

Sue? The church?

Uh uh.

♪ 'Ave Maria' by Christopher Frances Mitchell ♪

♪ 'Ave Maria' by Christopher Frances Mitchell ♪

Why are you always on the sofa,

is there something wrong with your room?

No.

Did you sleep walk?

No, I just fell asleep here.

How's your head?

Are you having trouble sleeping?

No, I slept.

Well, everyone's awake.

Okay.

What exactly is your plan?

What plan?

About this girl.

My daughter?

Yeah.

Her name's Noelle.

That's a pretty name.

I didn't pick it, her mother was probably being ironic.

What's your plan?

I don't have a plan, how do you plan?

You need one.

I'm going to tell her that she's my daughter,

and I'm going to hope for the best.

That's the plan?

I'm having a little faith.

At least, not just you,

the whole parish, the whole congregation is affected.

You'll probably make the news.

You think about that?

For having a daughter?

A priest with a secret daughter nobody knew about? Yeah!

Who are you telling first, the bishop, the girl? Noelle?

Noelle.

Is that wise?

If she doesn't want anybody to know then nobody has to know.

It's up to her.

You're going to put that responsibility on a child?

I'm not going to force her to tell the world

that her father is a priest.

And you think a teenage girl is going to keep that a secret?

I'll tell the bishop.

I'll tell him once I know what Noelle wants to do.

When are you going to tell her?

When it's right.

And when I work up the nerve.

I'm afraid to tell her.

Well that oughta tell ya something.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Forgive me Father for I have sinned,

it's been a week since my last confession.

New in town?

What, back in town but new, sure, I like that.

What do you have to confess?

Uh, I told off my mother.

Okay.

It's okay? It's not okay.

No, it's not okay. I didn't mean that, I just, I meant--

Well, be specific with me.

I will be specific with you. Okay, thank you.

Umm, I lied to her, hence the telling off. So lying.

What did you lie about?

I've already confessed to the sins that I lied about.

You want me to be specific, you gotta be specific.

Pills and alcohol.

That I hadn't had any of either.

I shoulda picked one.

I took the lie too far.

I should know. That's how people get caught.

That's how I usually catch them.

Huh, are you a detective?

I'm a politician.

I was your federal representative

if you live across the water.

We live down the block, on the property,

y'know, it's a priest thing.

I don't follow politics.

Well, you were probably in knickers when I was in office,

so-- but I have been doing commentary

on cable news for a number of years.

Y'do-- Yeah, yeah there it is, I recognize your face,

the other priests, they do watch the news.

That's over too.

Yeah, I got kicked out of town.

Kicked out of television, kicked out of politics,

and that's why I'm back.

The new girl in town.

But I take it you are from here?

Oh yes.

So, you're lying to your mother about the pills.

Yes. Sorry.

It's okay, what are you thinking about?

I was thinking about the girl I was when I left here. Aww.

I was in office.

Well, one office or another for 15 years

and doing political commentary for almost as long.

Are those sins?

In a way.

In the way I did them.

I certainly used the Lord's name in vain.

Everybody does.

I used the Lord's name to divide and conquer the electorate.

Not everybody does that.

Oh, I used the Lord's name to fuel hatred

against other religions and minorities

and rally the religious to vote for me.

There.

Hmm, there's something I could never confess to in Ottawa.

Oh, listen to me.

Oh, I'm playing to my audience, even in here.

But God gets clicks.

He's clickbait.

I mean, nothing gets people so riled.

It's cause, well everyone's an expert on God.

Everybody's an expert on-- Really?

Well, okay, you might be more so

but who's turning to you for your opinion Father really, huh?

Not lined up out there, are they?

But they are on the Internet.

The Pope tweets.

So the more I mention God and religion, and I don't know,

the war on Christmas, the more clicks I get.

And if some poor agnostic teenager in Brampton

tells me to shove it, I get more retweets and more likes.

C'mon, I don't really like it, I don't really like using

the Lord's name as marketing, y'know to build my brand.

Don't you mean what you say?

And write and tweet?

No! Mostly. I don't.

I mean these are things that-- talking points I pick up, err,

are sent to me, usually about some argument,

I'm going to be debating on some 24 hour news channel.

It's advertising.

And it bothers you because you're a believer.

I'm not tweeting the commandments Father.

And I certainly don't think God cares

about some black baby Jesus

in an inner-city, grade school nativity scene.

People think I do.

That's a real example.

I got three shows out of that one.

I hate when people do that. I hate it.

When people use God like that.

That is why I do not watch the news.

Oh, well you're frank.

I'm not a politician.

Well, y'know what?

I hate it too.

I hated myself for doing it.

I mean, it's a cynical tool

using, using peoples' religion against them,

but they make it so easy.

You panic, your back is against a wall,

your best bet is to call on God, if you're a politician.

Not just as a politician, it's, it's the same,

it doesn't sound any different from anybody else.

Yeah but if you don't really mean it

then that's something else, isn't it?

Yeah, I mean it's bullshit.

... Really?

Where'd they find you?

Felt good, but now I have confess it later,

you see what you've done?

Oh... sorry.

Oh, the things I couldn't confess to my priest in Ottawa.

Well, he was the priest for the other party.

Oh, he's not going to tell anyone else your confession.

It's Ottawa!

Oh, the things I did coming up to get elected.

I told lies about other candidates,

I took huge money from developers for blanket approvals

for their building permits, I, I lied, well,

I omitted the truth, under oath, about my party leader

to move up ranks under the next party leader.

Is that what got you kicked out of politics?

God no. It got me another six years in cabinet.

No, it was an expenses issue that got me kicked out.

I mean, my infraction was less than almost any other minister

but I get scrutinized.

Caught.

I got sacrificed.

It's not going to be much of a confession

if you try and make yourself out to be martyr.

I'm no martyr.

That doesn't mean they didn't throw me under the bus.

Before I could throw someone else under the bus.

So you cheated on your expenses. Mhmm.

What else?

I got revenge.

I got a job in the media and when the time was right

and that jack ass who threw me under the bus was vulnerable,

I leaked information about him.

Is revenge a sin?

Oh, it's interpretable,

I mean you certainly didn't turn the other cheek.

Oh, I turned the other cheek and I made him kiss it.

Not that cheek.

I mean you, you could be in the category of a whistleblower

in that case, right, that, that's not a sin.

So, doing the right thing got me kicked out of town for good.

Wasn't that your job?

A little above and beyond the call for a commentator.

Okay so, your motivation was revenge.

Mhmm.

But you think about it, all you actually did

was expose corruption.

So, no Hail Mary's for that.

If I wanted to expose corruption I could bring down the senate.

How?

Their expenses were no different from mine.

They were on the same planes,

taking the same gifts from Saudi businessmen,

same hotels, same 40 dollar pots of coffee.

So why don't you?

Take down the senate? Yeah!

Self-preservation.

There's no coming back from that.

If you regret everything that you did there,

why would you ever want to go back?

Who said I regret it?

You're confessing it.

Well, I can't say you're wrong, but--

Okay, so, do it!

Y'know blow the whistle, whatever, just tell the truth!

Is that what you would do?

I don't know what secrets you have but--

If you could bring down the government.

If you could bring down the church.

If you had information that could bring down this church,

would you do it?

I can see why that wouldn't be an easy decision to make, but--

Spoken like a true politician,

Alright.

So... Pills and alcohol.

Both of them.

Lying to your mother, lying under oath,

election tampering, taking bribes, protecting crooks,

hiding the truth, lying to everybody. Anything else?

God, you make me sound horrible!

Hate the sin, not the sinner.

Am I really such a bad person?

It's not really my job to form an opinion.

You just come in here and tell me all the terrible stuff

you did, y'know it's a list of your worst things,

you don't get to balance it out by,

I dunno, telling me you helped an old lady cross the street

or donated a week's salary to an orphanage.

Maybe you pet a dog.

The point is, it's not a complete picture.

I don't get to sit here and judge you on your sins,

that's not the gig, I'm just here to forgive you.

I was just repeating the list.

I was just repeating the list, that's all.

Yeah.

You do seem sorry, you seem genuinely sorry.

It's not suppose to feel good, is it?

A lot of people say that they experience uh,

like a lifting of weight they've been carrying around, right?

They say that but... some people find it hard,

it can be really hard to put words to what you've done.

Yeah.

The church has the program, they got a twelve step program

that can help, if you want, to get off the pills and the booze.

I'm more the uh, 28-day resort rehab type, Father.

Ahh. Sorry.

Will you do that?

Oh yeah, no, I've done it. Check mark.

Good.

Well, how about an act of contrition?

We don't do those in Ottawa.

Okay, help me out.

Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you.

Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you.

And I detest my sins.

And I detest my sins.

Because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,

Because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,

but most of all for having offended you my God.

but most of all for having offended you my God.

who are all good and deserving of all my love.

I firmly resolve to the help of your grace.

To confess my sins, to do my penance and to amend my life.

Amen. Amen.

My penance?

Ah, why don't you say ten Hail Mary's? Okay?

And try and change something.

Change something? Yeah.

It's like you've been stuck for a while.

You keep getting immersed in situations,

you gotta lie all the times.

Yeah.

Yeah, so, if you're sorry, if you are genuinely penitent,

try to change something.

Thank you Father.

Well, thank you.

For what?

For giving me things to think about.

That's my job.

You fall asleep?

Well, you must need rest.

Can you tell me where Mrs. O'Leary lives?

Why do you wanna go there?

I ju-- I have some business.

Look, I don't have many friends left,

your mother ruined... that friendship.

We only just got together again after 20 years.

I'm not going to ruin your friendship.

Can I get you something?

No, thanks.

What you got there, eggs for dinner?

I like eggs.

Is you're uh, is your mother here?

You want my mother?

No, I'm just asking if she's here.

She's not. She's at bingo or something.

I got some information for you.

About what?

About the letter.

The letter that you brought me.

You asked me to find out if the higher ups ever responded

to Father Gene's letter.

About your abuser.

If Father Belliveau-Brown ever responded.

Did he?

I don't know.

I didn't find a response.

But, I found some other letters.

Your Choir Master.

He wasn't always a Choir Master.

Hmpf.

What was he?

Back before he came here, he was a priest, in some other diocese.

He got in trouble up there for messing with a boy.

And they had to send him away, so they sent him here.

They had to send him away.

Coverup.

I mean there's not a lot of information in those letters,

but it talks about him being defrocked,

and some agreement with the parents to send him away.

He came up here.

Not as a priest anymore.

But he was.

And they covered it up.

And they sent him here.

You alright?

Yeah. I'm great.

Next time on 'Forgive Me':

Good morning. G'morning.

Where's Gene?

He said something about a lawyer.

He went to a lawyer?

What do you think that makes you a bad person?

I guess that's just the kinda thing you figure out.

Hello?