DUBLIN (CNS): The Bishop of Galway in Ireland was not amused when one of his priests decided to help a charity fundraising venture.
Bishop James McLoughlin had no problem with the cause – research into childhood cancer and cerebral palsy – but was unhappy that Fr Olan Rynn was one of more than 18 Galwegian men to appear naked in a calendar produced to raise funds for the effort.
In his portrait, the 28 year-old priest appeared reading a book, wearing only a clerical collar as he sat, cross-legged, in a leather-bound chair.
At the request of the bishop, the calendar, photos and negatives have been destroyed, Fr Rynn has issued a public apology, and Bishop McLoughlin has stressed that Fr Rynn is ‘a valued priest of the diocese in good standing.’
In a prepared statement, read at all Masses in Galway on January 7, Fr Rynn said: ‘I wish to apologise to those who were offended by my decision to appear on a calendar.
The statement explained that the priest was on ‘a well-deserved and long-planned holiday’.
