Life
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Michael Cleary lived there all his life. He attended Catholic schools and became a priest.
As an adult, he lived in Rathmines Road in Dublin. He participated in some of the social changes of the 1960s and 1970s, claiming to have experimented with drugs. He was strongly devoted to care for the poor and working on poverty and community development issues.
In the 1960s, Cleary discussed the Catholic clergy's attitudes to celibacy, sex and marriage in the Irish documentary film Rocky Road to Dublin (1967). He admits to a personal preference for being married and having a family, but claimed that the role and necessary sacrifices of being a priest were a valid substitute. As part of his pushing limits, he once claimed to have tried every drug except heroin.
Cleary had one of the highest profiles of any cleric in Ireland throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He was a powerful and charismatic figure within the church. He was particularly devoted to raising the issue of poverty in Ireland, especially in Dublin, where he worked for change in inner-city communities.
Read more about this topic: Michael Cleary (priest)
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