Chai Brady
Despite not reaching the final of Britain’s Got Talent, Ireland’s singing priest says he’s got nothing put positive feedback regarding how he portrayed the Church and priesthood.
Fr Ray Kelly received a hero’s welcome as he arrived back to his Church on Monday night as hundreds of people gathered to celebrate his accomplishment.
Fr Kelly wowed judges on the show after his rendition of REM’s ‘Everybody Hurts’, with Simon Cowell describing it as one of his favourite auditions ever. The video of his performance has racked up six million views on YouTube.
Asked whether he thinks people responded warmly because he is a priest, Fr Kelly said: “You probably would have a lot of Catholic people over in the UK certainly that would identify with it.
“I think maybe a lot of people would identify with the song I sung, because we’ve all lost loved ones through cancer or through illness or something like that.”
Difficult times
The priest told The Irish Catholic that many people contacted him to thank him, saying his performances helped them through difficult times.
When asked if he was disappointed Fr Kelly said that “the whole experience has been so positive in my life, that makes up for any downfall of not getting through”.
“All I can say, personally, I’ve got nothing but positive feedback over being on the show and the way I portrayed the Church and priesthood as well, that’s all I can go on,” he added.