IT was years back when I unexpectedly ran into this guy in Dublin that I knew from my school days.

I hadn’t seen him in aeons, and I wasn’t very sure as to his circumstances. Something told me he had gone off to join the priesthood, but seeing that he had a woman with him and a young child ,I was wondering if I was barking up the wrong tree.

Turned out I wasn’t, but I wasn’t 100 per cent right either.

He had, indeed, joined the priesthood and had served on the missions for some years.

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While out foreign, he met a girl from his home town who was, I believe, working as a nurse in the same region, and they had fallen in love.

So, after a big wrestling match with his conscience, he decided to leave.

Don’t ask me how, but we got into a deep conversation about God, the after life and religion in general while having a coffee.

I even got around to asking him whether he still believed, seeing he had opted out of the priestly life.

When you think about it, it was a bit of a quantum leap –........

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