A parish priest in Sligo who has seen two of his curates leave the priesthood in the last three months has said he believes clergymen are coming under increasing and sometimes unbearable pressure.
Father Dominic Gillooly of St Anne's parish said most of the parishioners were "shocked and saddened" last week when a curate, Father Sean Page, left the priesthood to live with a separated local woman who has seven children.
The couple sold their story and posed for photographs for a British tabloid newspaper before leaving the Sligo area with the children.
"We are taking a lot of heat, the church is taking a lot of heat at the moment and priests are feeling an awful lot of pressure nowadays. We are at the receiving end of a lot of things," Father Gillooly said.
He said Father Page was very popular and highly respected in his 10 years in the parish, which takes in the largest public housing estate in the town. It was known that Father Page (40) was a recovering alcoholic and people had "the height of regard" for the way he had come through that.
Father Gillooly has asked parishioners to pray for Father Page and to be guided by Christian charity rather than sit in judgment. He described him as a "gifted priest" who had endeared himself to many through his work with young people, the sick and the elderly.
In early November, another parish curate addressed the congregation at Mass, telling them that after agonising for some time, he had decided to leave the priesthood for personal reasons. Father Gillooly said local people had reacted with sympathy and understanding.
In Sligo town on Sunday, both the British tabloid, which carried the pictures of the couple and the Irish tabloid which secured an agreement with the woman's husband to talk to it exclusively, were sold out in nearly every shop. Father Gillooly said it was regrettable that the "tabloid mentality", which was interested only in sensationalism and selling newspapers, prevailed.
Father Page was known as a popular and outspoken priest who often spoke on local radio on various issues. He provoked controversy in 1997 when he prayed at Masses for the soul of Brendan Smyth after the convicted paedophile died, prompting some people to walk out of the church.
He later went on local radio to defend his decision, saying "nobody has a right to refuse a prayer for anybody else" and that one "can't stand between God and a person".