Ardee’s Fr O’Leary finds Pope Francis ‘a gentle man with time for everyone’
ARDEE curate Fr John O’Leary has spoken of his meeting with Pope Francis at his golden jubilee mass in Rome, describing the Pontiff as a gentle man, who has time for everyone.
Fr O’Leary was one of six from his class to concelebrate the mass in the Pope’s residence at 7am.
‘It was so beautiful and simple,’ Fr O’Leary remarked.
After the mass, the Pope met with everyone and chatted to them, without fuss or haste.
The priests also said mass in the Irish College and Cardinal Sean Brady attended while for the weekly Papal Audience at St Peter’s, family members got front row seats.
Last weekend proved another milestone for Fr O’Leary as he celebrated his jubilee mass in Ardee with plenty of celebrations afterwards.
‘I have to give my physio Barney Flannery a mention,’ he added. ‘He did a great job on my bad back that allowed me to stand up straight to meet the Pope.’
Fr O’Leary moved to Ardee about three years ago and loves the place.
He spent eight years as Director of Pastoral Care in Brooklyn Hospital before that and in previous years lived in San Francisco.
He was ordained in Rome and his first parish was in Darver and then Tenure for five years.
His twin brother, Peter, was a local Bank of Ireland manager.