I see more and more each day how different the world would be if we had more really holy priests. With this object I have started a crusade of prayer.

COMMENT: Fr Willie wrote these words in a letter on this day in 1913. His was right when he wrote this a century ago, and hindsight has shown us that he was even more correct about the importance of holy priests than he probably realised himself.

We are all called to be holy, and holy lay people can do some things that a priest cannot. But a priest can do many things that a lay person can’t – the Church needs holy priests who offer the sacraments and sanctify and support lay people. Fr Willie knew this – he worked hard to promote vocations and to support priests, urging them not to settle for mediocrity, but to be ambitious in their pursuit of sanctity.

Fr Willie himself was a holy priest who loved others so much that he sacrificed himself and died to save non-Catholic soldiers in World War 1. At a time when the priesthood is held in low regard, the example of his heroism and holiness is needed now more than ever.