A chara, – In the article by Caoilinn Hughes about her new novel, The Wild Laughter (Culture, July 15th), she writes: "Entering the priesthood, too, was a means of attaining social mobility, authority and security; an alternative to the demands of breadwinning."
I have served as a priest in the Dublin diocese since 1967; now retired, I still serve as possible. It may be that some entered the priesthood with those motives in mind, as may be the case with others who serve in public positions. Priests are as human as any others. I can only say that I have in that time never encountered a priest where such motives were evident, nor did they enter my mind.
In one parish in the 1970s, for a month I counted the number of hours I worked: it was between 50 and 60 hours per week.
To say that this is “an alternative to the demands of breadwinning” is simply ludicrous. – Is mise,
PÁDRAIG McCARTHY,
Sandyford,
Dublin 16.