Painful price of a place in heaven

IN the context of what happened in Wexford, it may be significant that Fr Seán Fortune ended his suicide note thus: “After my death, I know that I will be reunited with my father and mother in heaven.”

He may have found that, though he entered heaven, he endured and may still be enduring purification to enjoy its fullness.

His victims including his family and fellow clergy may derive some consolation from the possibility that that purification may have been, and may still be, more painful than the pain they endured and may still endure. It may also be more painful than what he could have endured in prison for a few years and for decades afterwards.