FORGIVE me for chortling over this Daily Mail tale, but – come on! – a silent “bombshell”?
Father McDonough
The word was used by the Mail to describe a confession made last weekend by deaf priest Father Peter McDonough in Manchester:
As his congregation of deaf Roman Catholics prepared to head home after Mass, the priest indicated that he had something to tell.
Then, using sign language, Father Peter McDonough dropped his bombshell.
The 54-year-old priest – who is himself profoundly deaf – admitted that he had secretly fathered a son, now aged four.
Standing in the pulpit, he informed the stunned worshipers he was quitting the church after breaking his vow of celibacy.
Father McDonough was ordained as a priest by Pope John Paul II during his historic visit to the UK in 1982 and went on to lead St Joseph’s Mission for Deaf People in Collyhurst, Manchester.
After saying Mass using sign language as usual, he asked his congregation them to sit down as he had something to tell them.
He then announced that the service would be his last, informing the congregation:
I’ve got a four-year-old son.
Father McDonough said he planned to get a new job to help him support the boy and his mother and then spent the next two hours explaining his situation to them.
Monsignor Mark Davies, vicar general for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford, said:
The reaction was obviously shock but most of all sadness. There were many tears as well. The context of what was said was his struggle, to see how best to fulfill his responsibilities to the child.
He added:
He’s spent 27 years dedicated to looking after the deaf community.
Officials at the diocese said he had taken the “personal’” decision to step down after a “time of reflection” and after speaking to the Bishop of Salford, the Right Reverend Terence Brain.
Neither the mother’s identity nor that or their son have been disclosed. But she is believed to be someone he met through his church work rather than a member of his congregation.
The child is now aged four and a half and will start school next month.
Parishioners yesterday spoke of their amazement at the news.
James Kenny, 85, of Collyhurst, said:
This will come as a big shock to everyone. He’s let down the Catholic community. People are confessing to him – I’ve confessed to him – and he’s been carrying this big secret. What faith can you have in someone like that when it’s not say as I do but do as I say? He’s been here for years and should have done this as soon as he knew about the child.
Another parishioner said:
I am extremely surprised. He always came across as very pious and very proper and as a very good priest. I thought he was devoted to his religion and devoted to his calling. I am very disappointed.
But mother-of-three, Kathleen Maguire, 40, was more sympathetic:
He seemed like a nice man. Priests are human beings too. I don’t think it’s right that they’re not allowed to marry and have kids just like the rest of us.
Father McDonough, who has been deaf since he was three, held sign language masses every Sunday morning attended by up to 70 worshipers from around the diocese.
He also held services and conducted visit to deaf churchgoers elsewhere in Lancashire. The importance of the vow of celibacy for Catholic priests was reaffirmed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006, but some in the church believe it should be relaxed to permit them to marry, not least in the hope that it would boost recruitment.
Hat tip: BarrieJohn
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
August 13th, 2009 at 7:38 am
"Profoundly deaf"? Profoundly daft, more like it!
As I said in my original email, Barry, I just fell about laughing when I read in the original MEN story that he had communicated this sad tale by sign language. Perhaps some inventive readers of this blog could suggest what sort of signs he might have employed to convey the message: "I've been secretly shagging a member of my congregation for years now!" (I don't really need any help to envisage the sorts of signs that the parishioners might have employed to indicate their response to this shocking news!!)
August 13th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Yes, I bet they wore they wore their fingers out talking about that one…(ouch, sorry).
Still, an alternative headline would be 'Shock! Horror! Catholic priest does the right thing and stops being a hypocrite'.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:26 am
I think "lying hypocrite" is the correct expression here, Tim!
August 13th, 2009 at 8:36 am
I have to say, and I don't normally say this, I have something that comes close to respect for him. At least he is choosing to look after the mother and child rather than abandoning them in favour of his imaginary friend.
The people of the congregation who are critisizing him are simply selfish. They don't care about the welfare of the child, they are simply worried about how the situation impacts their lives. Shame on them.
Kudos to the priest for taking the moral option.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I think it's refreshing to hear of a Catholic priest fathering a four year old boy.
Usually they just fuck 'em!
August 13th, 2009 at 10:19 am
[ArthurAskey]
Aythengewwww!!!!
[/ArthurAskey]
August 13th, 2009 at 10:57 am
"What faith can you have in someone like that when it’s not say as I do but do as I say?"
She just described 98% of the RRRW religious population. Funny how they're always whining when they're the ones on the receiving end of the hypocrisy.
August 13th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Endangering people's lives
Faith healers attack cancer with prayer
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-pre.....istchurc...
August 13th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Funny how Jesus allegedly made the blind see, yet a deaf priest doesn't get healed….
August 13th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I can see where you're coming from here, David, but this kid is four years old now! I don't really see much sign of "morality" in his behaviour!!
August 13th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Careful Barriejohn. As a user of ASL I have no trouble at all picturing what sort of words he employed, presumably in British Sign Language. Would you find it funny if he communicated the message in some other language, say Mandarin or French?
That said, I LOL'd that it took two hours to explain how he became a father.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
He made the mistake of being a Catholic. (false Christian)
If he had been a True Christian™ then he would have been as perfect as me.
Isaiah 35:4-6
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
He made the mistake of being a Catholic. (false Christian)
If he had been a True Christian™ then he would have been as perfect as me.
Apparently it's just a matter of "unstopping their ears".
Isaiah 35:4-6
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
August 13th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
"He’s let down the Catholic community." "I am very disappointed"
Hmm. Before he left, he should have given them a final sign, universally understood, involving the middle finger of each hand.
August 13th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Where was he all along for the boy? It is not really the upstanding thing to do four and a half years later….
August 13th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I agree entirely, horselover. His behaviour has been totally immoral and selfish, and nobody has had a word to say about this young child. Once again, as with the child abuse scandal, all they are interested in is the reputation of the Roman Catholic Church! Their attitude stinks!!
August 13th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Ok, the guy lost his faith and demonstrated that he's only human… Fine… about time IMO! I enjoy a shag as much as the next man, so there you go.
But barriejohn, you clearly know fuck all about deafness, what is your problem? Atheists can be deaf too you know!
If you go about mocking deaf people because of their 'disability' rather than their religious bent, you're a prejudicial twat and as bad as the RC church itself. Fuck Off.
Pardon my French.
August 13th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
No, it wouldn't have been so funny if he'd been communicating in Mandarin or French, as he wouldn't have been searching for the signs to convey I've been shagging my mistress on the q.t. for four years now, as I said! Having said that, the French do wave their arms about a lot, so perhaps sign language is unnecessary over there!!
August 13th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Did anyone else notice that McDonough is an anagram of No God Much?
It's almost the same surname as mine. My grandfather was from Connemara, and was a great joker – I know JUST what he would have made of all this!
August 13th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I agree. Now if he had quit 5 1/2 years ago and taken responsibility for his actions at that time, I would say he did the right thing. I hope that he has at least he was abusing Church funds to pay for the child for the past 4 1/2 years…. Now that is in line with the "Catholic" church–defrauding and enslaving people for centuries–is all about.
August 13th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I agree. Now if he had quit 5 1/2 years ago and taken responsibility for his actions at that time, I would say he did the right thing. I hope that he has at least he was abusing Church funds to pay for the child for the past 4 1/2 years…. Now that is in line with the "Catholic" church–defrauding and enslaving people for centuries–is all about–lying and deceeving people.
August 13th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I agree. Now if he had quit 5 1/2 years ago and taken responsibility for his actions at that time, I would say he did the right thing. I hope that he has at least he was abusing Church funds to pay for the child for the past 4 1/2 years…. Now that is in line with the "Catholic" church–defrauding and enslaving people for centuries–is all about–lying to and deceiving people.
August 13th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
The quotes from the parishiners are very funny. He always seemed pios, nice, devoute, now not so much. Now he is is a bad person. The last 4 years have been lies, one after another.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
"Lost his faith"? I don't see that anywhere. He's had to give up the priesthood, but I assume he still believes in all that baloney. We're not mocking him because he is deaf, we're mocking him because he's a deceitful hypocrite who had to find the signs to convey this message to his gullible congregation! Deaf people can be hypocrites too you know!!
August 13th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
And I won't be "fucking off" at your request, either!
August 14th, 2009 at 4:57 am
Ok, why is that funny,
and why is dannyJ wrong to call you a prejudicial twat?
August 14th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I see we're even "offending" deaf people here now! Not long to go before we've got a Full House!!
August 14th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
BTW I've never called anyone on this or any other site a "twat", nor have I ever told anyone else to "fuck off". Such comments are uncalled for, and just display the poster's ignorance!
August 14th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Since this man has been doing sermons in sign (supposedly BSL) to a presumably fluent congregation I highly doubt he had to "search" for the signs to convey his meaning. He knows them just as well as you or I know the term "shagging".
And I don't see how the signing of angry and hurt deaf people is funny, any more than I would think the swearing of hurt hearing people is funny.
August 15th, 2009 at 2:25 am
I didn't make the comment, I just asked why it doesn't fit. It's British , and I'm not, but I assume it would fit some one who is ignorant, insulting, and unwilling to explain themself. Your comments prove you are all those things, so don't expect an apology. The only ignorance evident here is yours–assuming a fluent user of a language has to somehow "search" for words, that all signers are deaf, that there is some connection between BSL and 'waving one's arms about' , etc. All you had to do was explain why you said what you did.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
You obviously have no sense of humour, so as far as I am concerned the matter is closed.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Get a fuckin life! It was a joke! All this PC bullshit is just too much. I didn't see any insults towards deaf people. Just a fuckin joke!
August 17th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
lol
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:45 am
I’m an example of a Deaf atheist. There are a few of us out there, while sadly the majority of us subscribe to religious nuttery.