“Your sons need to see you on your knees praying,” said Fr Philip Mulryne OP at a packed Legion of Mary Men’s Conference in Dublin.
The former Manchester United footballer turned Dominican priest was speaking at the From Football to Faith night, which also featured the testimony of ex-Irish international Keith Fahey.
Asked how the Church can reach young men, Fr Mulryne recalled a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, where he witnessed 400 Muslim men—grandfathers, fathers, sons—gathering to pray: “Young men need to see that. There’s no substitute for the father.”
“If they only see women in church,” he added, “they begin to think faith isn’t for them. They need to see being a man of prayer is being a real man.”
The conference, now in its sixth year, drew its largest crowd yet. One organiser described it as “a place where men can express themselves… whether you’re searching for faith or trying to keep it, you feel like you belong.”
