A PRIEST who survived wartime air raids and a plane crash yesterday celebrated 70 years in the priesthood in his hometown.When Father Ambrose O'Gorman (98) was ordained, the people of Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, turned out in their thousands for the celebration of his first Mass.
"It was huge. I suppose I was a boy from the town.
"The brass band was out and everyone paraded through the streets. I was overawed," he recalled.
And yesterday they were out again to honour the popular priest at a special Mass to mark seven decades of religious life.
The Donegal native spent all his religious life in parishes in the south of England and Wales. He was in Wealdstone, Middlesex, during World War Two and took refuge under the stairs during the air raids.
"One night I didn't got to bed. They were dropping all around. I sat up all night and prayed. I thought I wouldn't be alive in the morning," he said.
Another brush with death came in the 1960s when the plane in which he was flying from Dublin to London crashed in heavy fog.
"The plane burst into flames but we all managed to get safely off," he said.
After an active retirement in Ballyshannon, since 1984, he now lives in the Shanagh Nursing home in nearby Belleek, because of failing eyesight.
But he remains a daily Mass-goer and is shocked at the scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church.
"There were mistakes made but I only hope that it can end and that it will be sorted out," he said.
Despite seeing friends depart religious life, his vocation has never wavered.
"I am as enthusiastic for the church today as I was 70 years ago," he said.
SIC: II