by Stephen Reilly

This spring, the city of Rome will play host to two events which at first sight may seem unrelated. On 15th May, Pope Francis will canonise Blessed Charles de Foucauld, the onetime soldier/advernturer turned hermit, along with five others. The following month, from June 22nd-26th, the Pope will preside over the World Meeting of Families (WMF 2022), an international biennial gathering and celebration of family life. What might a celibate, who left family life to live alone in the desert, have in common with an event which promotes the very vocation which he eschewed? In a word: Nazareth.

Fr Stephen Reilly is Co-ordinator of Spiritual and Pastoral Formation at School of Education at the University of Glasgow. He is a priest of the Diocese of Motherwell, and is resident in Cathedral House in Motherwell.