The End of an Era An Island Parish

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

The little island of Barra, the most southerly inhabited island

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

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

Roman Catholic parish priest, Father John Paul MacKinnon,

being alone has very much become a way of life.

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

overlooking the main harbour of Castlebay.

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

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

Yeah, I think, like,

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

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

the hoovering, the mopping, the polishing.

One of Father John Paul's most enthusiastic parishioners,

Maggie "Scraggy Aggie" MacKinnon,

has a radical solution to the problem.

Why are priests not allowed to marry?

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

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

Look at animals!

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

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

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

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

There she is, now.

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

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

She's had her house redecorated

and he's not seen her for weeks.

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

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

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

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

And it's possible for planes to land here

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

which have been built up over thousands of years.

When the planes stop flying,

distant figures can be seen dotted across the beach.

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

inexhaustible supply of tasty and valuable free food.

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

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

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

-Just beneath the surface.

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

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

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

You could come out and have a taste of this.

-Take as much as you like?

-Take as much as you like.

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

Wash the whole lot of them in the sea water,

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

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

You couldn't ask for anything better.

And there's nobody around to bother you.

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

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

His smallholding is just up from the airport beach.

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

She's called Goldilocks.

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

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

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

Crofting's been in the family all our lives.

-Would you want to live any other way?

-No.

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

but every job's like that.

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

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

and you get on with it, you like it.

On a day like today, it's lovely.

-How many have you got?

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

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

And why is that?

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

Are you a superstitious man?

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

So, they all say the Uist folk are superstitious.

Some of them, anyway.

Like most islanders, Angus John can't survive

on just one source of income.

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

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

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

And believe it or not,

the only times I see Father John Paul

is when there's a funeral.

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

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

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

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

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

to another potentially very valuable source of income.

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

Always worried about his welfare,

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

-Maggie? Are you in?

-Yes! I'm here.

-Hello!

-Hello, Father.

Ah Maggie, Maggie. How's things?

Ah, they're not too bad at all.

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

-I see that...

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

-The palace, ooh, the shambles!

-A work in progress.

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

This is the kitchen now.

Oh, my, my, my.

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

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

Oh, no, this is nice!

So what's all this?

You like it? You like the colour?

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

That's nice. That's nice.

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

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

Hold onto that for me just now, thank you.

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

-Well, you can if you like.

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

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

Double, double that, eh...

I better not say. 25.

-All the way round? That's fantastic.

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

-My mother would be so happy.

-26!

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

-It'll be a labour of love.

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

-Och...

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

You're more godly than manly. You are.

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

He is! Everybody says that.

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

but there's something special about you.

With chat about the jumper exhausted,

time for Scraggy Aggie to get things off her chest.

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

And I think, in this day and age,

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

But who would want me, Maggie?

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

to clean the house. A wife could do it.

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

-all my time to everyone, so...

-You could leave her sitting, and,

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

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

There was a person from Lewis...

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

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

Um, no.

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

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

and it's never stopped.

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

no, I've never looked back.

-Plonk!

-Cheers!

-There you are, now!

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

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

I know I can get a meal somewhere.

My family always like to have a laugh with me

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

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

Who's the wee girl? Is it yourself?

Many, many moons ago.

-That's me again.

-That's yourself again?

-Uh-huh.

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

He has a divided heart.

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

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

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

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

so few men are coming forward for ordination.

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

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

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

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

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

shocked everyone with the news that the Bishop

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

In the years he's been in the parish,

Father Roddy has become a much-loved figure.

-Flora, how are you today?

-Fine.

-How are the hens?

-Fine.

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

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

In these difficult times,

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

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

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

They're called The Stations of the Cross.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The tenth station, Jesus is stripped of his garments.

Eleventh station, Jesus is nailed to the cross.

The twelfth station, Jesus dies on the cross.

The fifteenth station is the Resurrection.

So it's uniting the Cross and the Resurrection.

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

but also the crosses and sadness.

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

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

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

our own faith, and my own faith,

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

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

But Father Roddy's not being allowed to leave without

the mother of all farewell parties.

Preparations and rehearsals are taking place in

every corner of the parish.

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

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

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

-Father Roddy's a piper?

-Yeah.

-So he'll appreciate this.

Oh, he will do, he loves the piping.

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

-He'll have a handkerchief to hand?

-Yeah, yeah.

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

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

Hop one, two, three. Pa de ba.

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

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

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

And a silence as well.

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

It was like you wanted to respond,

but in church when the priest makes an announcement,

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

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

He's really made a difference with the community,

and with the Church, and even ourselves just personally.

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

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

Nice big pa de bas! Really spring! Go!

Father Roddy's American housekeeper Sandy knows how hard

saying goodbye will be.

Everyone wants to give him a proper send-off.

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

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

because he never wants to make a fuss.

He just wanted to quietly, discreetly go,

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

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

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

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

will take some of the pain away.

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

We'll miss him a lot.

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

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

A very happy Easter to everyone.

It's lovely to see the sun is shining

and looking down upon us all today.

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

of Easter Sunday.

Up at the parish church in Castlebay,

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

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

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

And we've reached it. Easter Sunday today.

Fantastic weather, the sun's shining.

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

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

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

With the coming of Easter, Barra sees the first stirrings

of the holiday season.

Tourism is not yet a big business here,

but the islanders know that with the future

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

-Would you like some drinks for now?

-Yes, please.

-While you're waiting.

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

are starting to arrive.

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

is a big problem.

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

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

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

I've got the bins there.

That was my first job.

The bins there.

And you can see here a concrete block.

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

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

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

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

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

-So all this space...

-All this space.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fingers crossed.

Let's hope that in the very near future,

I'll see a few caravans here.

-What experience have you ever had with tourism?

-Very little.

There's one problem Angus John may have underestimated.

Most holiday-makers arrive by ferry in Castlebay,

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

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

right on the northern tip of the island,

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

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

The entire parish is turning out at the village hall

for Father Roddy's farewell.

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

with their love and kindness and share some stories.

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

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

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

the people to be feeling kind of happy with you.

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

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

Jesus, may all that is you flow into us.

May your body and blood be our food and drink.

May your passion and death be our strength and life.

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

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

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

but hold us safe from the forces of evil.

On each of our sufferings and our dyings,

shed your light and your love.

Father Roddy's colleague, the retired Father Callum,

knows what the younger priest is going through.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But you still can't help but thinking back

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

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

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

APPLAUSE

Over on the next-door island, Barra,

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

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

So, you found the place...

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

But we got here eventually.

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

-to find out where you were!

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

Cos you are on the extreme end of the island.

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

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

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

-Oh, yes, oh, yes.

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

They kind of find it difficult to get to.

It would perhaps be worth having a little map

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

Yes, well, thanks very much for that advice.

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

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

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

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

it's nice to come down at night

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

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

where they've come from...

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

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

-You come from...

-Aye, aye.

'See when I'm crofting,'

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

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

you're by yourself there.

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

-to find the place?

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

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

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

-Hopefully.

-It'll take a while yet to see

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

And being in such an exposed location,

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

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

things seem to be going with a swing.

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

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

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

He really loves the people.

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

-He's broken-hearted?

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

The people have been so good to him.

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

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

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

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

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

You've shared in many, many important moments

in the lives of your people here.

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

Preparing the children for their first communion,

a most important point in their life.

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

You know everybody and everybody knows you,

but more importantly, Roddy, everybody loves you.

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

without the help and support of family.

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

and also the family of the parish.

When I move on now to another parish as well,

I move on with a lot of memories.

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

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

With Father Roddy now gone,

Father John Paul has lost his mentor,

confidant and best friend.

The question now is,

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

In the days to come,

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

We choose this man, our brother, for priesthood

in the Presbyteral order.

The first new priest to be ordained in seven years.

And Angus John is using all his marketing skills

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

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

Just to show them how to go down to the beach

off the campsite, you know.

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

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

Terrible altogether.