Priest who was more than his sins

ACCORDING to your columnist Diarmaid Ferriter (September 6), Fr Michael Cleary was “the obnoxious hypocrite, always a fraud, far more interested in his own profile and feeding his gargantuan ego than in showing any humanity towards the people he wounded ...”

Diarmaid Ferriter’s column overflows with absolute certainties and damning judgments of character.

At times, the unwary reader might think he or she was reading about a war criminal.

Praising Fr Cleary’s son, Ross, he refers to his “monstrous father”.

Diarmaid Ferriter moves between the genre of the gossip columnist and the hanging judge, mostly the latter.

He writes: “But bending the rules was the essence of his (Cleary’s) secret life.”

But what makes Diarmaid Ferriter so certain that he knows the essence of Michael Cleary’s or anyone else’s life? Human lives and relationships are endlessly complex.

This is especially true when one party is dead and hostile witnesses are free to establish their story as the only authentic one. We also need to listen to the testimonies of several people interviewed recently in Finglas and Ballyfermot. They spoke of the good that Fr Cleary had done in both places.

He opened his door to many troubled people and tried to care for them. These are substantial achievements in the life of any priest.

As a media defender of Catholic teaching, Michael Cleary was not well-suited. He did not appreciate genuine difficulties and objections.

It is always mistaken to reduce Christianity to morality, especially to sexual morality. In this, Fr Cleary represented some of the worst features of the Catholic Church in the 20th century. He should not be made a scapegoat for so much that was inadequate in the communication of the Christian message.

I heard Michael Cleary speaking to people in prison, simply and persuasively, about the love of God for every person there. He was much more than his well-publicised sins.

Fr Breifne Walker

Whitehall Road

Dublin 12