A Co Limerick priest has taken joint second place in the London Times Preacher of the Year Award. A woman colonel from the Salvation Army came in first.
Father John Littleton, curate in the parish of Doon, shared second place with Rabbi Albert Friedlander, rabbi emeritus of the Westminster synagogue in London.
In first place, out of 400 entries, was Col Margaret Hay, a member of the Penge Salvation Army corps in south London and prison chaplain at Rochester. Preaching on Advent and prison life, she is the first woman to win the award in six years of the competition.
Father Littleton is the first Catholic priest to be shortlisted to reach the finals after being nominated. He gave his sermon on the theme of forgiveness and repentance. "That is something that is very close to the work that I do. Forgiveness is central to what Christianity is all about."
Originally from Cahir, Co Tipperary, he said he was in the business of preaching, regularly giving sermons at novenas and retreats.
His final entry on forgiveness and another 38 sermons will be published in The Sixth Times Book of Best Sermons.