Hilary Mantel Overstates Her Case - And I Too Am 'Very Protestant.'

The Catholic Church “is not an institution for respectable people”, according to Hilary Mantel, the Booker Prize-winning author.

Hilary Mantel, the Booker Prize-winning author Photo: Martin Pope.

By Anita Singh

Mantel was raised a Roman Catholic and educated at convent school.

However, the 59-year-old writer said child abuse scandals involving Roman Catholic priests demonstrated the “cruelty” and “hypocrisy” of the church.

Asked if she would call for a priest on her deathbed, Mantel replied: “No. I might very well call for a Church of England vicar, but I would not call for a Catholic priest.

“I’m one of nature’s Protestants. I should never have been brought up as a Catholic. I think that nowadays the Catholic Church is not an institution for respectable people.”