Such Is My Beloved

A young priest accidentally meets two prostitutes and because of his strong social conscience, he attempts to take them under his wing to save their souls. When wealthy members of his congregation and his bishop find out, their love of money and position trump their Christian ideals of love thy neighbour no matter who he/she is. Callaghan seems to be criticizing the Roman Catholic Church and its hypocrisy.

The two women are exiled from town to an unknown fate. The young priest is removed from the parish and to be sent to a monastery but his failure to save the women causes a mental breakdown and he is confined to a sanitarium.

The irony here is that the man who was following the teaching of Christ to the letter is punished by the show more Church's leaders and major parishioners who have failed to grasp the meaning of Christ's teachings. show less

I loved this book. The priest is open to humanity in a way we are mostly trained away from, and learns where he had meant to teach. SPOILER: The ending was not the end. His life continues on and I believe in my wee Canadian heart that he was blessed in time by what he had done.

Excellent book full of double meaning and thoughts. Story of a priest who befriends a couple of prostitutes and tries to love them with the love of Christ.

A young Catholic priest tries to redeem to prostitutes in the 1930's. He has very idealistic ideas but the outcome is not what he expects.