A memory of Fr Ben in The Guardian

On the 8th of January Adrian Chiles had an article in The Guardian. It was a reminiscence of his journey of faith and of how he was helped by Fr Ben. Here is the final paragraph:

‘Just be still: all you have to do is be still and the truth will come to you. That’s all there is to it. And that was me.

A few months later, at Easter, I became a Catholic. I’ve spoken to countless Catholics since. Be they devout, furiously against the church or merely lapsed, there is invariably, for better or for worse, a good or bad priest at the heart of their stories.

Father Benignus O’Rourke was my good priest. I write this now because he died last year and to my lasting regret, I never thanked him properly. During that chat in 2007 he made me promise I would be still for a little while every day from that day onwards. I was always too ashamed to confess to him that I only managed this about four times.

I’m trying to rectify that this year in his memory. I hope he’s resting in peace. I strongly suspect he is.’

Read the article in the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/08/atheist-family-catholicism-40s-peace-father-ben

And the letters in answer to it:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/09/wise-advice-from-a-charismatic-priest