On Saturday, 19 July 2025, we gathered in St John’s Cathedral as Fr Ryan Browne was ordained to the priesthood. A full year has passed since that significant moment, and Fr Ryan was asked for his thoughts on how his first year as a priest has gone.

Here, he shares the joys and sorrows, the highs and lows, and how rewarding his initial year in ministry has been.

• Looking back on your first year ordained, what has brought you the greatest joy?

Tempus fugit! Time flies! This year has been a time of learning and growth for me. It’s also been a very busy year due to the coupling of responsibilities as Assistant priest at the Cathedral and as a Chaplain to the University of Portsmouth. With all of the events in the last year it’s difficult to name the greatest joy. The greatest joy is seeing people love the Lord. I remember a lady came to see me one day, she started to cry and then said, “I just love Jesus so much.” It was so moving to hear those words and to see the power that Jesus has over her heart.

• What has challenged you the most?

It has definitely been the fact that St John’s Cathedral is an inner-city parish in quite a deprived area of the city. The fact that the Cathedral is a large, distinct building means that it is attractive to visit. On occasions, though, the Cathedral attracts people with drug and alcohol addiction who can be quite disruptive. On one occasion a lady entered the Cathedral and disrupted the proceedings of Sunday Mass. I asked everyone to pray for the lady and without hesitation the whole congregation pulled down the kneelers and we all started to pray. These types of challenges are quite common here at the Cathedral, but they are never without blessings. We have our challenges, but they are never devoid of the presence of the Lord.

• How has your relationship with Christ changed since ordination?

I think my relationship with Jesus has become more real. In the build-up to ordination I suppose I was a bit idealistic about what I would be like as a priest. God loves us in our holiness, but He also loves us in our woundedness and sinfulness. In fact, I think God loves us more in the moments when we do stray, because He wants us to be with Him so much. God’s love is not transactional like our human love. His love is so much more perfect than our human love. His love is unchanging; therefore, His heart always yearns for us.

• What has surprised you most about parish life?

How busy it is. There was a lot to do during training for the priesthood in the seminary, but there was also a lot of free time, and I only really had to focus on my own formation and studies. In parish ministry there are so many different things to attend to and people to care about. One example could be a married couple who come and tell you that they want to get married. Wonderful! But then you discover that one or both of the parties have been married before, which means quite a lot of paperwork. Another example could be taking the youth group to the Isle of Wight for a day trip. Great idea! Then there are risk assessments needing to be filled out and forms to be signed. There’s a lot of good things happening in the parish here, but a lot of behind-the-scenes work happens before things come to fruition!

• What moment made you truly feel, “I am a priest now”?

Maybe when my Mum said, “Ryan!” And I replied, “That’s Fr Ryan to you.” Only joking! The moment for me was at my first Mass of thanksgiving on Sunday 20^th July 2025. At the moment of the epiclesis in the Eucharistic prayer. It’s that moment when the priest descends his hands over the gifts on the altar to show the action of the Holy Spirit descending on the bread and wine to consecrate them, to make them into the precious body and blood of Jesus. It was a surreal moment (and continues to be so) and I ask myself, “am I really doing this?” The answer is, of course, “not totally”. At the moment of consecration, in a profoundly mystical way, it is the work of Jesus working through me, like He does with all priests.

• What has been your favourite priestly responsibility so far?

For me it has to be the celebration of the sacraments of healing; namely, Reconciliation and the Anointing of the Sick. When these sacraments are celebrated well it has an incredible impact on the spiritual lives of both penitent and priest alike. To be a priest of Jesus Christ and so witness someone pour out their heart in the confessional is an immense privilege. It can be emotionally tiring, but to see the weight of sin taken away from a disciple of Jesus is incredible. It’s easy to see why the Church calls them the sacraments of healing.

• What does being a priest mean to you now compared to a year ago?

When I was first ordained a priest, I suppose I was on a ‘bit of a high’ for some weeks. My first month as a priest I spent on a trip to Australia. It was the best decision I made to go there to visit friends, because I was able to digest being a priest without any pastoral demands. I was able to say Masses at parishes in the outback, in the Cathedral in Brisbane and also at St Mary’s Basilica in Sydney and many more places. These were amazing experiences that helped me digest this gift of the priesthood I received on 19^th July last year. After a year and having come down from the ‘highs’ of the post-ordination months where everyone wants a piece of you, I am now appreciating more how much a gift it is to be a priest. I don’t mean in some fanatical way, because there are days when I question whether this is the right path for me. But at a deep level I have the strong conviction that this is right for me, and I never want to let go of it.

• A year on, do you think you are a priest “at the right time” in your life?

You can never really know that answer in the present. To see God’s plan for you, it’s easier to examine the past and look in the rear-view mirror. You’re more likely to see the guiding hand of God that way. By looking in my own rear-view mirror I think I can say that I am a priest at the right time. There have been moments of encounter with people where had it not been for me being there as a priest in that moment, there may have been a missed opportunity for the Lord to touch them. I’m not saying this in some arrogant way. I know that there are people here in the parish who may not encounter the Lord through me, because I’m not that person for them. The priest who comes after me at the Cathedral may be the person to touch hearts and minds with the Word of God more than I can. God uses our characters, gifts and talents in the time and place that He wants to.

• What are you most grateful for after your first year ordained?

Someone asked me this question the other day. My response was, “I’m grateful for still being alive!” I’m most grateful for the people of God. I’m thankful for those who’ve poured out love, kindness and acceptance. I’m thankful for those who’ve challenged me. I’m thankful for everyone with their strange oddities (like my own) which make me laugh. I’m thankful for everyone who has been in my life at some point in this past year because they have made me understand myself as a priest a little bit more.