Scottish Catholic Observer

by Joe Wallace

Fr Jonathan Whitworth was ordained on Friday, June 30, by Bishop John Keenan at St Andrew’s Church in Greenock.

Amid a worrying decline of numbers in the priesthood, the 27-year-old has called for more men to step up to the plate and give their lives to God.

“It takes a real man to be a priest, I really have to state that,” he told the SCO before he was ordained. “You are called to be a father of all families yet not having one of your very own, so it takes heroism.

“I have to say that young men are calling out for something that is radical because they have been sold something of a false reality by the world at the moment.

“By radical I mean you give your all to it; you take your chance with God.

“If you want more priests, show our youngsters good, holy priests and they will want to be a part of it.”

Fr Whitworth admitted he would be full of nerves when he was ordained but insisted his Faith would give him the courage to complete his mission.

“On the night I will trust in God’s grace because it has worked so far and it will work again,” he said.

“He doesn’t lead you up the garden path and then turn you away at the door. Nevertheless, it would be unrealistic to say that there won’t be nerves on the night. There will be.

“The main thing for me will be to stop and listen to the words of the Church, think of the prayers that are being prayed each moment.

“I will focus on that and let the rest happen. My job on the day will be to show up and let my head hit the marble.

“There will be nerves but ultimately the over-riding feelings are joy and excitement.”

Fr Whitworth took centre stage at his ordination, but he revealed it’s not the first time he has been in the limelight after serving for Pope Francis during this year’s Easter Vigil Mass at St Peter’s Basilica.

“My role at the Easter Vigil was to assist the Holy Father,” he said. “The Church calls the Easter Vigil the Mother of all vigils. It is the high point of the whole liturgical year.

“I had that at the back of my mind. I had been journeying through Lent and preparing for my ordination and then I found myself serving for the Pope inside St Peter’s Basilica itself, the mother church, with all of the curia, with dignitaries, with papal nuncios, ambassadors, in a basilica that was absolutely jam-packed.

“Like any vigil it starts in darkness and it was so quiet you could hear a pin dropping.

“That was when it dawned on me: I am at the back of the line of the procession which means the next person to be standing next to me, within a hair’s breadth, would be the Pope, the successor of St Peter!

“To be a deacon with the successor of St Peter at Easter Vigil Mass, where Christ’s resurrection is proclaimed, where the power of life over death is proclaimed, is something which will take a lifetime for me to understand.”