THE Catholic Church has emerged as an unexpected thread running through Lindsay Clancy’s blockbuster murder trial — from a priest who baptized her children and still visits her to a prosecutor’s explosive question about murder being a “mortal sin.”

The priest, known in court as “Father Bob,” has reportedly visited Clancy weekly and supported her throughout the three years since she strangled her three young children.

Lindsay Clancy listens to expert testimony in court during day 16 of her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Wednesday

Holy Family Church in Duxbury had close ties to the Clancy family long before the killings (stock image)

Clancy, 35, remains held without bail at Tewksbury State Hospital in Massachusetts while standing trial in Plymouth for the January 24, 2023 deaths of Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan.

“Father Bob is a Roman Catholic priest who baptized these kids, who is very, very close to Lindsay,” Reddington told Judge William Sullivan.

But the attorney stressed their bond was not simply about religion.

“Not in a religious sense. They just like each other,” Reddington said.

“She went to mass sporadically. She’s not a devout Catholic. She’s a Catholic. She has a relationship with the father.”

Reddington said the priest had remained by Clancy’s side for years as she moved through hospitals and ultimately to Tewksbury State Hospital.

Father Bob has been identified in local reports as Rev. Robert Deehan, the longtime pastor of Holy Family Church in Duxbury.

The church had close ties to the Clancy family long before the killings.

Dawson and Callan were baptized at Holy Family, where Deehan was pastor, according to Catholic newspaper The Boston Pilot.

The priest rushed to support the shattered family almost immediately after the children were found.

The priest rushed to support the shattered family almost immediately after the children were found.

On January 25, 2023, the day after the killings, Deehan visited Patrick Clancy and also went to see Lindsay as she lay unconscious in a Boston hospital.

Lindsay Clancy allegedly killed her three children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3 and eight-month-old Callan by strangling them

Susan Clancy, the former mother- i-n law of Lindsay Clancy, during testimony at Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial on August 18, 2026

On January 25, 2023 — the day after the killings — Deehan visited Patrick Clancy and also went to see Lindsay as she lay unconscious in a Boston hospital.

He gave Lindsay the Catholic Anointing of the Sick and an apostolic pardon while she remained unconscious.

Holy Family then opened its doors to the devastated Duxbury community and organized a candlelight vigil attended by more than 500 people, according to Deehan.

Those gathered prayed for the Clancy family, first responders, medical workers and people suffering from mental illness.

Three years later, the priest’s continued presence has now become an issue inside the courtroom itself.

Prosecutors sought courthouse security records identifying people who had been allowed to visit Clancy in a private area during her trial.

Their request particularly focused on psychologist Dr. Paul Zeizel, who has since testified for the defense.

Reddington said he had no problem with prosecutors seeing information about Zeizel’s visits, but Father Bob was also on the visitor list.

Sullivan agreed prosecutors could obtain records showing Zeizel’s visits, but drew the line at handing over information about the priest.

“Especially, I’m not ordering the name, address or frequency of this Roman Catholic priest,” Sullivan said.

“I’m just not going to do it, based on the record that I have now.”

The judge said prosecutors could renew their request if the priest later became a witness, but there was no indication at that point that the defense intended to call him.

Religion then burst into the trial again days later, this time in front of the jury.

Patrick Clancy’s mother, Susan, was testifying for the defense Tuesday when prosecutor Shanan Buckingham suddenly asked about her Catholic faith.

“Are you an active member in the Catholic Church?” Buckingham asked.

“Yes,” Susan replied.

“So you’re aware that murder is considered a mortal sin?” the prosecutor asked.

Judge Sullivan swiftly intervened, called the lawyers over and later instructed jurors to disregard the question.

Fox News correspondent Chanley Painter, who was inside the courtroom, said there was a “collective gasp” when the question was asked, while legal experts later criticized the exchange.

This is also important because Susan had just testified about trying to help Lindsay as her mental health deteriorated before the killings.

She described her former daughter-in-law as a “wonderful mother” who was “begging for help” as she battled insomnia, anxiety and loss of appetite.

Catholic ideas of forgiveness have also surrounded the case since its earliest days.

Days after losing all three children, Patrick publicly asked others to forgive Lindsay as he had.

“I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have,” Patrick wrote in January 2023.

“The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards everyone — me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients.”

Clancy’s defense does not dispute that she strangled her children.

Her lawyers argue she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible for what she did, while prosecutors maintain the killings were deliberate.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16865926/lindsay-clancy-catholic-church-priest-visits-her-in-psych/