Best Self Magazine

Truth or Dare: From Secrets, Lies & Vatican Ties to Transparency…and Freedom

Truth or Dare: From Secrets, Lies & Vatican Ties to Transparency…and Freedom, By Tina Alexis Allen. Photograph of church by Chad Greiter
Photograph by Chad Greiter

Untangling web of family secrets, lies and Vatican ties, a woman discovers a path to freedom through truth and transparency

I grew up the youngest of thirteen children in a home oozing with religiosity and steeped in Catholic dogma.

My five brothers were named after the Apostles (they were even given the middle name ‘Mary’ — yes, all 5 of them), while we eight girls were named after saints. Dad, knighted by Pope Pius XII, was our pious leader as we recited the Rosary each night, kneeling before the large crucifix in

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