Former Norwich City midfield player Philip Mulyrne, 38, has swapped the pitch for the pulpit as he was ordained as a deacon in the Catholic Dominican Order at a service at St Saviour’s church in Dublin on Saturday (October 29).
Br Philip was ordained by the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, during a Mass and was joined by his family, friends and many Dominican brothers. It is expected that he will continue to be ordained to the priesthood sometime during the coming year.
Philip began his career at Manchester United alongside David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes but opportunities were limited and he only played a handful of first team games before joining Norwich City for £500,000 in March 1999 in the hope of gaining more first-team opportunities. He scored on his second appearance against Grimsby but a broken leg ruled him out for most of the next season.
In the 2001–02 season, Philip was a member of the Norwich team that reached the final of the Division One play-offs against Birmingham City in Cardiff, but lost on penalties.
He was part of the Norwich side that won promotion to the Premier League as Division One champions in 2004. Philip left the Canaries to join Cardiff City after more than 150 apperances for the club and ended his career at non-league King’s Lynn. He also played international football 27 times for Northern Ireland.
After his retirement from football at the age of 31, Philip began training for the Roman Catholic priesthood. He studied at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome and in September 2016, he made his profession to become a Dominican friar at St Saviour’s Priory in Dublin
Talking about his decision to become a priest, Philip said: “One of the major reasons which attracted me to the religious life was to give oneself completely to God through the profession of the Evangelical Councils.
“To take Him as our example and, despite our weaknesses and our defects, to trust in Him that he will transform us by his grace and thus being transforme, to communicate the joy in knowing Him to everyone we meet. This to me is the ideal of the Dominican life and one of the major reasons that attracted me to the order.”
Pictured above is Br Philip Mulryne during his ordination. Picture courtesy of the Irish Dominicans
See more pictures at http://dominicans.ie/diaconate-of-bro-philip-mulryne/
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