Catholicism challenged - Church must embrace a new society

IT IS difficult not to have at least a smidgen of admiration for anyone who commits to a life as a cleric in these pluralist, disinterested and unbelieving times.

Such a public, 24/7 commitment to an unfashionable, derided credo, so at variance with how the majority of us live our lives, requires a level of conviction and courage not easily achieved or sustained.

Being a Catholic priest is a very lonely and hard life, sometimes reduced to being no more than chief cheer leader at the great social and show-off celebrations of our time — weddings, baptisms and holy communions.