Madam, - We have recently been reminded of the unsavoury behaviour of a famous singing priest. The other side of the clerical coin was with the 90th anniversary celebration of the founding of Boys Town in Nebraska in 1917 by the late Father Flanagan from Ballymoe, Co Galway (The Irish Times, September 12th).
Boys Town also linked a priest with singing but in an oblique way. The story goes that when Father Flanagan once encountered a boy carrying a disabled child, the boy said: "He ain't heavy, Father, he's my brother." Father Flanagan chose this statement as the motto for Boys Town and commissioned a statue based on the event.
Many years later, songwriters Bobby Scott and Bobby Russell penned a classic pop song based on the motto, and He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother subsequently became a number-one hit for The Hollies. - Yours, etc,
KEVIN O'SULLIVAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.