Community mourns after dedicated Mayo priest commits suicide

The law of celibacy did not come from God or the Bible. The Catholic Church reaps the rewards of making its own laws. 1 Tim 4:3 says "They will try to stop people from marrying and from eating certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." - International Standard Version ©2008 (Forbidding to marry - That is, "They will depart from the faith through the hypocritical teaching - of those who forbid to marry;" see notes on 1 Timothy 4:2. This does not necessarily mean that they would prohibit marriage altogether, but that it would be a characteristic of their teaching that marriage would "be forbidden," whether of one class of persons or many. They would "commend" and "enjoin" celibacy and virginity. They would regard such a state, for certain persons, as more holy than the married condition, and would consider it as "so" holy that they would absolutely prohibit those who wished to be most holy from entering into the relation. It is needless to say how accurately this applies to the views of the papacy in regard to the comparative purity and advantages of a state of celibacy, and to their absolute prohibition of the marriage of the clergy. The tenth article of the decree of the Council of Trent, in relation to marriage, will show the general view of the papacy on that subject. "Whosoever shall say that the married state is to be preferred to a state of virginity, or celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or celibacy, than to be joined in marriage; let him be accursed!" Compare Peter Dens' Moral Theology, pp. 497-500.)

Very sad and a further indication of the terrible loneliness and weight of responsibility among an ever-lessening group of men. When will the Church see its folly in not opening up its ranks to people of both genders and getting rid of celibacy? Rest in peace, Fr Tully, your contributions stand for themselves.

Sad, but the reality is that celibacy is unnatural. celibacy has nothing to do with will power and not giving inti "evil". celibacy is totally unnatural and whether its a priest or a nun, it will drive you crazy; how crazy? well lets just say ,that beating children and considering that normal is a result of celibacy.

As an actively practicing Catholic I can attest to the sometimes overwhelming feeling that Evil is winning. To a faithful priest this must be an even greater source of anxiety. Add to that the ever-increasing workload forced upon these good men caused by loss of vocations. Then top all that with the media-driven attitude that ALL priests are pedophiles and you end up with a sad, stressed and depressed group of men. Our priests need our support and prayers more than ever before. Pray for our priests and pray for vocations.

My heart bleeds for this poor soul.May HE REST IN PEACE.Those priests and bishops who by their actions or inaction have put the extreme pressures on these other decent priests have a lot to answer for.As a practising catholic I say that the church leadership needs to have greater dialogue with the priests and instead of dictating,listen.

Why would the cause of his death darken anything about the man ? Rest in peace Father Tuffy.