The End of an Era An Island Parish


The End of an Era

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It's one of the most isolated and remote communities in Britain.

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The little island of Barra, the most southerly inhabited island

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of the Outer Hebrides, off the north-west coast of Scotland.

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Life can be lonely here for anyone, but for the young

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Roman Catholic parish priest, Father John Paul MacKinnon,

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being alone has very much become a way of life.

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Father John Paul lives in the big house attached to the parish church,

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overlooking the main harbour of Castlebay.

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And even though he's been here for more than a year, he's still

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not found himself a housekeeper to help with all the daily chores.

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Yeah, I think, like,

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most men, if you're on your own, your domestic life is, uh,

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yeah, it's not my cup of tea. Yeah, the washing, the ironing,

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the hoovering, the mopping, the polishing.

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One of Father John Paul's most enthusiastic parishioners,

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Maggie "Scraggy Aggie" MacKinnon,

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has a radical solution to the problem.

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Why are priests not allowed to marry?

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I mean, it's all wrong. After all, it's human nature,

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so I think it's all wrong. They should all be allowed to marry.

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Look at animals!

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You don't see a poor bull going around on his own

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and not looking at a cow or anything like that, do you?

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No! It's only natural. That's all.

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So, if the cock-a-doodle-doos and all do that...these things there!

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There she is, now.

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It's only nature, for heaven's sake.

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Father John Paul's promised to pay Scraggy Aggie a call.

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She's had her house redecorated

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and he's not seen her for weeks.

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No doubt, she'll be giving him a piece of her mind.

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At the north end of Barra, there's a huge beach,

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which, at low tide, takes on a rather unusual function.

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When the sea's out, the beach becomes the island's airport.

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And it's possible for planes to land here

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because just beneath the sand, there are rock hard layers of shell,

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which have been built up over thousands of years.

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When the planes stop flying,

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distant figures can be seen dotted across the beach.

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These are the cockle-pickers, taking advantage of an apparently

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inexhaustible supply of tasty and valuable free food.

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One man you'll often find down here is Angus John Morrison.

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He's one of Barra's most eternally optimistic islanders.

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-So they're just beneath the surface, are they?

-Just beneath the surface.

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Well, if it's cold weather, they go further down with the cold weather.

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And see the beauty about this now is anybody can come out here.

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I mean, if you came here on a holiday, nobody would stop you.

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You could come out and have a taste of this.

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-Take as much as you like?

-Take as much as you like.

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Before I go home, I'll wash them all.

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Wash the whole lot of them in the sea water,

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and they'll be clean and it takes all the sand away.

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Now I'm going to have this for my tea tonight, just fresh.

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You couldn't ask for anything better.

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And there's nobody around to bother you.

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And I'm here, with my dog, as you see there, and it's fantastic.

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Angus John is also one of Barra's biggest cattle crofters.

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His smallholding is just up from the airport beach.

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That's my favourite, the yellow one, that one there.

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She's called Goldilocks.

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But she's a wee bit, you know...

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funny at times, you know, but it's all right to myself.

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Crofting's in my blood and... I was brought up on a croft.

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Crofting's been in the family all our lives.

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-Would you want to live any other way?

-No.

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Some days, I might just hand everything over to you,

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but every job's like that.

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You know, and you get, uh, you get your ups and downs in it,

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but then you forget that just as quick as you get it,

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and you get on with it, you like it.

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On a day like today, it's lovely.

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-How many have you got?

-Well, I never tell anybody how much I've got.

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I've got a few, as you can see. Ha, I never tell the number.

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And why is that?

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Ach, I believe it's not lucky. Aye.

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Are you a superstitious man?

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Yes, a wee bit. I come from Uist, you see.

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So, they all say the Uist folk are superstitious.

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Some of them, anyway.

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Like most islanders, Angus John can't survive

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on just one source of income.

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The only other job I've got here, I shouldn't mention this to you

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but I do dig the graves here, but you don't want that one to be...

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You don't want to do that often, you know.

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And believe it or not,

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the only times I see Father John Paul

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is when there's a funeral.

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Aye, I always laugh. That's all the time...

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That's the only time I'll see him, is at a funeral.

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Angus John's croft is in a stunningly beautiful location,

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and it's this asset, just sitting beneath his nose,

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and which for years he's taken for granted, that could be the key

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to another potentially very valuable source of income.

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A few miles away, Father John Paul's on his way to see Scraggy Aggie.

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Always worried about his welfare,

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for weeks, she's been threatening to make him a new jumper.

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-Maggie? Are you in?

-Yes! I'm here.

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-Hello!

-Hello, Father.

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Ah Maggie, Maggie. How's things?

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Ah, they're not too bad at all.

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I know, I've got cold hands, but a warm heart.

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-I see that...

-So this is the palace I've come to see.

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-The palace, ooh, the shambles!

-A work in progress.

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That's the bathroom, I've got things that I couldn't get out.

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This is the kitchen now.

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Oh, my, my, my.

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And what you can't eat, you can take with you.

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Oh, my, my. You've been a busy, busy little girl today.

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Oh, no, this is nice!

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So what's all this?

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You like it? You like the colour?

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Well, I've always wanted to be a leprechaun.

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That's nice. That's nice.

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Do you think there's going to be enough wool to cover me?

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I'll send an SOS if I need more. I think I will.

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Hold onto that for me just now, thank you.

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-You don't want me to finish it off for you?

-Well, you can if you like.

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It doesn't need to be as baggy as the jacket.

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Is this a waltz you're doing? Should you not be round the other side?

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Double, double that, eh...

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I better not say. 25.

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-All the way round? That's fantastic.

-Yes, that's 50 all the way round.

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-My mother would be so happy.

-26!

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Father, you're worth it. And I've told that all along.

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-It'll be a labour of love.

-We've never had a priest like this before.

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-Och...

-That is so...everybody says that. You're such an exception.

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You're more godly than manly. You are.

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You'd better put that tape measure round my head, cos it's bigger now!

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He is! Everybody says that.

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There's something about Father John Paul. Don't know what it is,

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but there's something special about you.

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With chat about the jumper exhausted,

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time for Scraggy Aggie to get things off her chest.

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By the way, that's one thing I have got to discuss with you, Father.

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And I think, in this day and age,

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all priests should be allowed to marry. I think it's only right...

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But who would want me, Maggie?

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And then they wouldn't need to... tell somebody to come in

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to clean the house. A wife could do it.

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If there was a wife in the house, I wouldn't be able to give

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-all my time to everyone, so...

-You could leave her sitting, and,

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you know what, she could do the knitting! There you are.

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Nobody would have me, Maggie. I wouldn't even get one person...

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There was a person from Lewis...

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'Well, that's a brave woman that can take me on and look after me.'

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Was there anyone in your life that might have changed your path?

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Um, no.

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There wasn't a girlfriend there or somebody saying go the other way.

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I had friends about me and I just felt the path was leading me,

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and it's never stopped.

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And it's brought me to today and I've...

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no, I've never looked back.

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-Plonk!

-Cheers!

-There you are, now!

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'I can spend my life going around, visiting people.

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'They can feed me, I can go and...'

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I know I can get a meal somewhere.

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My family always like to have a laugh with me

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cos I seem to time it right, appearing in somebody's house.

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'Oh, it's lunchtime, whoops!' And they give me my lunch.

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Who's the wee girl? Is it yourself?

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Many, many moons ago.

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-That's me again.

-That's yourself again?

-Uh-huh.

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'If a priest, a Catholic priest, was married, where is his loyalty then?'

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He has a divided heart.

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His wife, his kids, the family. Where is the parish?

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The parish is second or third, fourth down the line.

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And that's not the Catholic priesthood. The parish is first.

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The fact Catholic priests can't marry could be one of the reasons

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so few men are coming forward for ordination.

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In fact, there hasn't been a new Catholic priest ordained

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in this large West of Scotland diocese for nearly seven years.

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Father John Paul is now in danger of feeling more isolated than ever.

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Recently, his best friend and colleague, Father Roddy MacAulay,

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the priest across the water on the neighbouring parish of South Uist,

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shocked everyone with the news that the Bishop

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is moving him to the mainland. It's come right out of the blue.

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In the years he's been in the parish,

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Father Roddy has become a much-loved figure.

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-Flora, how are you today?

-Fine.

-How are the hens?

-Fine.

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How are the hens? Are they OK? Are they laying just now?

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Many parishioners will be very sad indeed to see him suddenly go.

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In these difficult times,

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Father Roddy's been spending a lot of time seeking solace alone.

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In every Catholic Church across the world, you'll find

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a series of pictures depicting Christ's journey to the crucifixion.

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They're called The Stations of the Cross.

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In so many ways, the story of Jesus is also our story.

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Do you know in life, we all fall, we all pick up the cross.

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How many times in our own lives do people come along and comfort us

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when we're sad, when we're lonely?

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So the story again of Jesus and the way to the Cross,

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the way to Calvary, is the story of people's lives.

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The tenth station, Jesus is stripped of his garments.

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Eleventh station, Jesus is nailed to the cross.

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The twelfth station, Jesus dies on the cross.

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The fifteenth station is the Resurrection.

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So it's uniting the Cross and the Resurrection.

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And then all our lives, there are the successes, the joys,

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but also the crosses and sadness.

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And, you know, in times when we're asked to move from a parish to

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the new one, the Stations of the Cross are a beautiful meditation.

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It helps us to stop and to think, and to re-examine as well,

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our own faith, and my own faith,

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and think, well, yeah, if I can unite my journey

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with that of Christ, that's where I get my strength from.

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But Father Roddy's not being allowed to leave without

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the mother of all farewell parties.

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Preparations and rehearsals are taking place in

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every corner of the parish.

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That's my son Seamus that's playing the pipes there.

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He's practising for a farewell do for Father Roddy on Sunday.

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He's a piper himself as well, and he's into...

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-Father Roddy's a piper?

-Yeah.

-So he'll appreciate this.

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Oh, he will do, he loves the piping.

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Ach, hopefully, it'll help him not to be too emotional.

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-He'll have a handkerchief to hand?

-Yeah, yeah.

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Everyone wants to make sure his send-off is one to remember.

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Doo, doo doo, doo, doo. Hop one, two, three. Hop one, two, three.

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Hop one, two, three. Pa de ba.

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Hop one, two, three. Hop one, two, three.

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One, two, three. Pa de ba. OK, then, there's two...

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When he announced it at mass, there was quite a shock and a few tears.

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And a silence as well.

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I think he announced it and we didn't know what else to say.

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It was like you wanted to respond,

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but in church when the priest makes an announcement,

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you don't respond as if to say, 'Wait a minute!

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'What do you mean, you're going?' So everybody had to just take that.

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He's really made a difference with the community,

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and with the Church, and even ourselves just personally.

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Doo, doo doo doo, doo... Hop one, two, three.

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Hop one, two, three. Hop one, two, three, pa de ba.

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Nice big pa de bas! Really spring! Go!

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Father Roddy's American housekeeper Sandy knows how hard

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saying goodbye will be.

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Everyone wants to give him a proper send-off.

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And him being such a humble person, it's really hard for him

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to accept the gifts that we're trying to give him

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because he never wants to make a fuss.

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He just wanted to quietly, discreetly go,

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but the community wouldn't allow him to do that.

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But, you know, you're in two minds.

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The reason you're having it you're not happy about,

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but the fact that we can give him a proper send-off, I think,

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will take some of the pain away.

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But there'll be a few tears, I'm sure there'll be a lot of tears.

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We'll miss him a lot.

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It's almost the end of April and, with the sun continuing to beat down

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every day, the Easter celebrations get started with a flourish.

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A very happy Easter to everyone.

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It's lovely to see the sun is shining

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and looking down upon us all today.

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We're very blessed, as we gather for this wonderful celebration

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of Easter Sunday.

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Up at the parish church in Castlebay,

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there's an air of great optimism after the long months of winter.

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We've just been climbing this mountain, just climbing, climbing.

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We just want to get to the summit, which is Easter Sunday.

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And we've reached it. Easter Sunday today.

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Fantastic weather, the sun's shining.

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It's just a fantastic experience. When I see the sunshine

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and I see the flowers are sprouting, there's all this regeneration.

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And that's what Lent and leading into Easter is all about. New life.

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With the coming of Easter, Barra sees the first stirrings

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of the holiday season.

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Tourism is not yet a big business here,

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but the islanders know that with the future

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of the fishing industry in doubt, it's something they must develop.

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-Would you like some drinks for now?

-Yes, please.

-While you're waiting.

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As the days go by, more and more holiday-makers

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are starting to arrive.

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The trouble is that even finding somewhere to pitch a tent here

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is a big problem.

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And it's this which has given Angus John his latest brainwave.

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In recent days, there's been a lot of unusual activity up on his croft.

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This is my campsite. Hopefully, my, this is my new adventure.

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I've got the bins there.

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That was my first job.

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The bins there.

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And you can see here a concrete block.

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That's in the council's things, for the caravan jockey wheel.

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That you'll have a concrete... But I've got concrete blocks

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here and there, you know, and this is where I'm hoping...

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See this area here, this flat area here and a wee bit further up there?

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I'm hoping to have my caravans and caravanettes in here.

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-So all this space...

-All this space.

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And, on the other side, on this side here, I'm hoping that

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if anybody comes and wants to pitch a tent, that I'll have them

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on this side, to keep them separate from the caravanettes.

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And I hope that it'll bring in a wee bit of money to me,

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which'll be very handy, as crofting is...

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..crofting is crofting, but you won't make a living on crofting, no.

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You won't make a living. You'll keep the wolf away from the door,

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but I can't manage to go on a holiday, I can't...

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Not that I want a holiday, I'm quite happy where I am!

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And you couldn't get a better place and the weather on a day like this.

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Fingers crossed.

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Let's hope that in the very near future,

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I'll see a few caravans here.

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-What experience have you ever had with tourism?

-Very little.

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There's one problem Angus John may have underestimated.

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Most holiday-makers arrive by ferry in Castlebay,

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the main community, right in the south of the island.

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Angus John's fledgling campsite couldn't be further away,

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right on the northern tip of the island,

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in what must be one of the remotest locations in the whole of Scotland.

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Across on South Uist, there's not a soul to be seen.

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The entire parish is turning out at the village hall

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for Father Roddy's farewell.

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People want to say goodbye, they want to kind of shower you

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with their love and kindness and share some stories.

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And there'll be a lot of laughter as well.

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And I know, like Roddy, when I did it, you try to keep it upbeat.

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You want to...you're leaving on a high and you want

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the people to be feeling kind of happy with you.

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If you give your all to the parish, to the local community,

0:21:030:21:08

there's nothing more you can do, and people just want to say thank you.

0:21:080:21:11

Jesus, may all that is you flow into us.

0:21:170:21:21

May your body and blood be our food and drink.

0:21:210:21:24

May your passion and death be our strength and life.

0:21:240:21:28

Jesus, with you by our sides, enough has been given.

0:21:280:21:33

May the shelter we seek be the shadow of your cross.

0:21:330:21:38

Let us not run from the love which you offer us,

0:21:380:21:41

but hold us safe from the forces of evil.

0:21:410:21:44

On each of our sufferings and our dyings,

0:21:440:21:48

shed your light and your love.

0:21:480:21:51

Father Roddy's colleague, the retired Father Callum,

0:21:540:21:57

knows what the younger priest is going through.

0:21:570:22:02

You just don't know what's ahead of you. So there are...

0:22:020:22:04

you ask yourself questions, and perhaps there's an uneasiness.

0:22:040:22:09

We're all, naturally, human beings. We like the friends we make,

0:22:090:22:14

and we're going to miss them wherever we go.

0:22:140:22:17

But then you've got to take all that on board.

0:22:170:22:20

And when you go to the new parish, you have to smile broadly

0:22:200:22:24

at them all and say, "It's lovely to see you."

0:22:240:22:27

But you still can't help but thinking back

0:22:270:22:30

of what you might call the good times you had where you were.

0:22:300:22:34

I'm sure he'll feel, um, a gut feeling,

0:22:340:22:38

because your world as you knew it is coming to an end.

0:22:380:22:43

APPLAUSE

0:22:460:22:49

Over on the next-door island, Barra,

0:23:100:23:13

two or three caravans have pitched up on Angus John's new campsite.

0:23:130:23:17

But nothing like what he'd hoped for over this busy Easter period.

0:23:170:23:22

So, you found the place...

0:23:220:23:24

Well, it's a bit remote, it took us a bit to find it.

0:23:240:23:28

But we got here eventually.

0:23:280:23:30

Finding you, we actually drove the full length of the island

0:23:300:23:35

-to find out where you were!

-Yes, you see, I haven't put the sign up yet.

0:23:350:23:39

Cos you are on the extreme end of the island.

0:23:390:23:41

Yes, yes, at the north end of the island.

0:23:410:23:44

I know it's a bit out of the way, out in the remote, you know, but...

0:23:440:23:48

-Well, that's what we come here for.

-Oh, yes, oh, yes.

0:23:480:23:52

'Just a slight problem I've got is being so remote here.'

0:23:530:23:58

They kind of find it difficult to get to.

0:23:580:24:01

It would perhaps be worth having a little map

0:24:010:24:04

on the back of a card to advertise where you are.

0:24:040:24:08

Yes, well, thanks very much for that advice.

0:24:080:24:11

I have to thank you for all the attention you've given us.

0:24:110:24:14

Ach, well, I like you, and I've liked your conversation, you know...

0:24:140:24:19

But it's not all bad news for Angus John.

0:24:190:24:21

'Since I've started this, I find...'

0:24:210:24:25

it's nice to come down at night

0:24:250:24:27

and just have a wee chat, ask them how they're getting on,

0:24:270:24:31

how are they enjoying the place, and they tell you about

0:24:310:24:34

where they've come from...

0:24:340:24:36

And see across there? You're looking at my grandfather's country.

0:24:360:24:39

-That's Uist, that's where I come from.

-You come from...

-Aye, aye.

0:24:390:24:43

'See when I'm crofting,'

0:24:430:24:45

I'm on my own and I don't see anybody

0:24:450:24:48

for hours and hours, and you're just, you know...

0:24:480:24:53

you're by yourself there.

0:24:530:24:55

So people are getting here, but it's taking them a while

0:24:550:24:57

-to find the place?

-Yes, it's not so easy to find after all,

0:24:570:25:02

but surely I can sort that out with a wee bit more advertising

0:25:020:25:06

and signs and all that. I'll be able to...

0:25:060:25:09

-Hopefully.

-It'll take a while yet to see

0:25:090:25:13

if Angus John can make a long-term success of his campsite.

0:25:130:25:17

And being in such an exposed location,

0:25:170:25:20

he's relying very much on it being a long, hot summer.

0:25:200:25:26

Back at Father Roddy's big farewell party, on the face of it,

0:25:320:25:36

things seem to be going with a swing.

0:25:360:25:39

But Father Roddy's parents, Charlie and Cathie, realise

0:25:450:25:48

that beneath it all, Father Roddy is struggling to hold in his emotions.

0:25:480:25:54

I think he's quite choked up tonight, leaving everyone, you know?

0:25:540:25:58

He really loves the people.

0:25:580:26:00

He's broken-hearted, I can tell you.

0:26:000:26:02

-He's broken-hearted?

-He's broken-hearted, yes, leaving.

0:26:020:26:05

The people have been so good to him.

0:26:050:26:08

It's a big, big move for him, to go to another part of the world.

0:26:080:26:12

There was no warning, was there? It kind of comes out of the blue.

0:26:120:26:15

This is what happens when you're in the priesthood. You just up and go.

0:26:150:26:20

If the Bishop asks you to do it, you do it.

0:26:200:26:23

One way or another, you've blessed each of us.

0:26:290:26:34

You've shared in many, many important moments

0:26:340:26:38

in the lives of your people here.

0:26:380:26:41

Baptising the new babes born into the families of this community.

0:26:410:26:47

Preparing the children for their first communion,

0:26:470:26:50

a most important point in their life.

0:26:500:26:54

Marrying the young people, and burying many of our loved ones.

0:26:540:27:00

You know everybody and everybody knows you,

0:27:000:27:03

but more importantly, Roddy, everybody loves you.

0:27:030:27:06

There's no way I could be a priest on my own,

0:27:130:27:17

without the help and support of family.

0:27:170:27:21

Both my own mother and father, my brother, my sisters,

0:27:210:27:25

and also the family of the parish.

0:27:250:27:28

When I move on now to another parish as well,

0:27:290:27:31

I move on with a lot of memories.

0:27:310:27:36

In the midst of life, in all the losses, the sorrows, the pains,

0:27:360:27:40

there will come as well a brighter day, another day.

0:27:400:27:44

With Father Roddy now gone,

0:27:520:27:54

Father John Paul has lost his mentor,

0:27:540:27:56

confidant and best friend.

0:27:560:27:59

The question now is,

0:27:590:28:00

how will the young priest cope with being very much on his own?

0:28:000:28:05

In the days to come,

0:28:080:28:11

priests from all over the diocese gather for a major event.

0:28:110:28:14

We choose this man, our brother, for priesthood

0:28:140:28:18

in the Presbyteral order.

0:28:180:28:20

The first new priest to be ordained in seven years.

0:28:200:28:24

And Angus John is using all his marketing skills

0:28:260:28:31

to improve the new campsite. It's an uphill task.

0:28:310:28:35

It's just a wee sign. It's not...

0:28:350:28:38

Just to show them how to go down to the beach

0:28:380:28:40

off the campsite, you know.

0:28:400:28:43

It's not the day to go to the beach today, is it?

0:28:430:28:45

No, certainly not. It's a terrible day today.

0:28:450:28:48

Terrible altogether.

0:28:480:28:50

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