O'Fallon, Missouri (CNN) -- Nathan Halbach is 22, with a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. He knows that "horrible stuff" lies ahead. His mother, Pat Bond, has been taking care of him full time. But when she needed help, she reached out to the Roman Catholic Church. After all, his father is a priest. Nathan was born in 1986, during a five-year affair between his mother and Father Henry Willenborg, the Franciscan priest who celebrated Nathan's baptism. In a story first reported in the New York Times, it was revealed that The Franciscan Order drew up an agreement acknowledging the boy's paternity and agreeing to pay child support in exchange for a pledge of confidentiality.
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Nathan Halbach's father is the priest who baptized him, Henry Willenborg
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Nathan's mother made a confidential agreement with the church to keep Willenborg's identity secret
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His mother went public about the secret agreement after he contracted cancer
Henry Willenborg
Henry Willenborg
Willenborg
@placeholder has acknowledged his relationship with Bond, but denies any inappropriate relationship with the other woman while she was a minor, according to his current bishop.
Henry Willenborg
Henry Willenborg
Willenborg
Afterward, @placeholder was removed from his job, and it was 17 years before he would lead a congregation again.
Pat Bond
He told his superiors that his relationship with @placeholder was over, but she said it continued.
Nathan Halbach
Nathan
Nathan
Nathan Halbach
Nathan
Since she went public, the Franciscans wrote a letter to Bond telling her they will cover 100 percent of her son's funeral costs -- and added, "Please advise if there is any additional assistance that the Franciscans can provide to @placeholder at this time in connection with his day-to-day expenses and comfort."