24 June 2011

Being a priest today

With Canon Norman Ruddock of Wexford on the day of my ordination to the priesthood, 24 June 2001

Patrick Comerford

Today marks the tenth anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. I was ordained priest on the Feastday of the Birthday of Saint John the Baptist, 24 June 2001, by Archbishop Walton Empey of Dublin in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.

Coincidentally, both the Feast of Saint John the Baptist and my reflections on being a priest today are two of the topics in radio interviews that have gone out this week from RNN to local radio stations throughout Ireland.

Every week, RNN (Religious News Network) sends out different pieces to thirty radio stations throughout Ireland. This week’s offerings cover the period from 22 to 29 June and in its publicity RNN says they include these three items:

1. The Feast of John the Baptist:

This week has had the most daylight of all the year. Traditionally there were many festivals surrounding this week, with particular focus on 24 June, the feast of Saint John the Baptist. Olive Rossiter spoke to Professor Patricia Lysaght, Head of Irish Folklore in the UCD Delargy Centre for Irish Folklore and the National Folklore Collection to find out more about this and other traditional festivals throughout the year.

2. Being a Priest:

What’s it like being a priest with the Church of Ireland? Miriam Gormally spoke with Canon Patrick Comerford, the newly-appointed head of Liturgy and Anglicanism with the Church of Ireland Theological Institute about life as a priest and his work in training new priests. He began by talking about the people who were to be ordained this year.

3. Ecology and Religion:

In the final piece of our ecology series, Miriam Gormally spoke with Katriona Russell, who is going to be the director for the new MA in Ecology and Religion in All Hallows’ College, Dublin. Miriam began by asking her about the connection between these two subjects and what graduates can hope to do with their MA.

Preaching in Saint George’s and Saint Thomas’s Church in inner city Dublin

These three pieces are available on the RNN page. Open the TMPlayer; the interview with me is on Track 2 and lasts a little over seven minutes.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. He has recently been appointed Lecturer in Anglicanism and Liturgy at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute..

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