Publications

My writing, documentaries and public engagements:

I have been profiled three times on Channel Four. First, in AIDS A Priests Testament, 1987. In December 1989, Channel Four featured another two documentaries on my prophetic witness, A Priest on Trial and Soul Survivor.

AIDS: A Priest's Testament | YouTube | Trailer |

This compelling documentary shot for Channel 4 in the summer of 1987 tells the story of Fr. Bernárd Lynch and his ministry to people with AIDS in New York. The Irish born priest and psychotherapist was closely involved with the LGBT community and founded the first pastoral outreach to people with AIDS in the city. He was subsequently drafted onto the Mayor of New York's Task Force on AIDS. His ministry and his commitment to civil rights for LGBT people led him into conflict with the Catholic Church authorities as well as bringing him into the most harrowing situations; preparing young people for their untimely deaths. The documentary profiles the man, his ministry and the pressures that brought him close to the edge of his physical and spiritual limits. (Conor McAnally, Director)

A Priest On Trial | YouTube |

This documentary film was made in 1992 and charts the savage attempt to silence the ministry of Fr. Bernárd Lynch. An openly gay priest in the Roman Catholic Church, Fr. Lynch was given an ultimatum by the Vatican and falsely accused of paedophilia. The accuser, John Schaefer admitted at Trial in the Bronx Supreme Court, that he had been forced against his will to bring the charges.The judge, Justice Burton Roberts, not only dismissed the charges and berated the politically motivated prosecutors from the District Attorney's office, but dramatically and fiercely declared Lynch wholly innocent.This film -- with live footage from the Trial -- is a vital testimony to the lengths that some will go to silence truth, love and compassion, with lies, hate and the abuse of power. (Conor McAnally, Director)

Soul Survivor | YouTube |

In 1986, Father Bernárd Lynch was immersed in the AIDS pandemic in New York City. During an interview about his ministry on World AIDS Day of that same year, in Ireland, he denied he was gay. This he later described as "the greatest sin I ever committed". This documentary made by Channel 4 in 1989 'to correct the lie', traces the personal struggle of this remarkable priest to come out at a time when homosexuality was still a criminal offence in Ireland. The truth cost him his job. He was never allowed licence to earn his living by the Catholic Church. With outstanding courage and dignity his father stands with him in the third of three personal profiles by Channell 4. (Conor McAnally, Director)

In February 1993 my book, A Priest on Trial was published by Bloomsbury.

I contributed chapters to Lesbian and Gay Visions of Ireland, Cassell 1995; Pink Therapy, Open University Press 1996; profiled in From Queer to Eternity by Peter Sweasey, Cassell, London 1997; The Scattering: The Lives of Sixty Emmigrants from County Clare - by Anne Jones, A & A Farmar, November 2000; Father Mychal Judge - an authentic American Hero by Michael Ford, Paulist Press New York 2002; Coming Out, Currach Press 2003; Where Clare Leads by Richard Fitzpatrick, Mercier Press, Cork 2008; Radiant Affinities: The Life and Work of Cornelius McCarthy by Peter Dobson February 2015.

Since then I have contributed articles on Spirituality, Sexuality, as well as participating in TV and Radio programmes on similar subjects.

My book If It Wasn't Love, Sex Death & God, was published by Circle Books in May 2012. The latest review of this book, Modern Believing Volume 56 Issue 1 2015.

I recently contributed a chapter to Our Witness: The unheard stories of LGBT+ Christians.

Interviewed in What We Talk About When We Talk About Faith by Peter Stanford. Published Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. March 2018