Catholic Priests become calendar pin-ups

by Brian Turner

Twelve Catholic priests have swapped their pulpits for favourite pastimes in a calendar designed to try to recruit young men to the priesthood.

The priests, from the Diocese of Leeds, are pictured in an array of activities, including reading celebrity magazines, watching baseball and DIY.

Each featured priest also reveals what inspired them to join the church.

The calendar has been created as part of a drive to encourage teenagers to take up Holy Orders.

It comes as the Catholic Church faces a national shortage of people entering the profession.

The priests also say what they believe they would be doing if they were not a priest.

Answers to that question range from those who would have undertaken other vocational careers such as policing and nursing to those who could not dream of doing anything else in life.

October priest Father Matthew Habron, of St Austin’s in Wakefield, says his childhood dream was to be an astronaut.

The calendar was the idea of Father Simon Lodge, of Myddelton Grange, Ilkley, who reveals in November: “If I weren’t a priest I’d be up to no good. Or at least more than I am already!”

Discuss this in the Interfaith forums

Story link: Catholic Priests become calendar pin-ups

Add to Bookmarks: