Belclares canon martin gleeson a priest for all seasons

“THERE’S good in everyone. It took me a long time to learn that.” This may seem a simple statement of faith in his fellow man, but Belclare-based Canon Martin Gleeson regards it as one of the most valuable lessons his almost six-decade-long life in the priesthood has taught him. “When I was a young priest, I was all rules and regulations. I’ve learned there is good in everybody, and it took me a hell of a long time to learn that,” he told The Herald when this reporter visited him recently in Belclare.
Being slow to judge is another life-lesson gained, and although it may surprise those who might regard Fr Martin (as he prefers to be addressed) as a priest cut from traditional cloth, he asserts that society today is, in many ways, more compassionate and accepting of mistakes than the one in which he grew up — and that’s no bad thing.

Read the feature in this week's Herald Living