Friday morning in Cleveland, and at last I have a bit of time to myself. I have given eight talks in different cities over the last nine days, and it was hectic. But I have an easy time here, with my talk not scheduled till tomorrow evening. My only duty today is to have lunch with two of the leaders of the US association of Catholic Priests, which should be interesting.
Last evening, Tuesday, I spoke in Boston — again in a Protestant church. The event was organised and run by Dignity, the organisation that works for equality for LGBT people, so there was a definite flavour of that particular issue about my time there. The church was not very conducive to good communication, with only one fixed microphone, and an echo in the building. So, rather than having people speak up themselves after I had finished, cards were given out and people wrote in their questions.
All four of the Galway Flannerys joined religious orders. The three priests and one nun were the children of an ambitious Irish mother who well understood that an affordable religious education was her best hope of saving them from poverty.
