Fr Hogan said that one of the motivations behind writing the book was Pope Benedict XVI’s call to Irish Catholics almost 15 years ago.
“We want to respond to Pope Benedict’s call to look at the great spiritual tradition that we have as Christians and Catholics in Ireland and to draw on that as we move towards renewal after the scandals,” he said.
“But as Pope Benedict said in his letter to the Irish, the Church in Ireland needs to reform but that reform needs to take place drawing upon the great traditions that we have and particularly the legacy of holiness that the people who have gone before us have shown.”
Rather than attempt to excavate a more antiquated time in Irish Catholicism, Fr Hogan decided to go for a more contemporary study of the faith on the island and this means that anyone reading can find a person whose life and circumstances mirror their own.
“Instead of going back into the dim and distant past, we’ve looked at more contemporary models of holiness that have emerged – particularly in the last 200 years. It looks at the Good News and the positive dimension of the Church and Christianity in Ireland which we need to look at if we’re going to go forward and address problems in the past but also flourish in the future.
“The idea behind it is that people will be inspired. We have people from every walk of life in there. Everyone who reads this book will find someone whose life mirrors theirs in some way and can encourage them to live the Christian life.”