IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Fr Martin Delaney
August 11, 2016

In my 30 years as a priest there have been bleak periods when I have been forced to ask myself questions like: “Why do I want to continue in this way of life?” Some of those bleak periods have come about because of a personal crisis and some have been caused by negative portrayals of the Church and/or priesthood in the media following yet another revelation of some kind or another. August 2016 has been another of those bleak periods.

In the midst of the recent media frenzy about Maynooth and ‘the latest scandal to rock the Catholic Church’ a friend sent me the text of a homily preached at a celebration for the silver jubilee of priesthood. Included in the homily was the following quotation: “In the daily exercise of our pastoral office, we sometimes have…