Read the following posts for some background information about Rev. John Cunningham.
His troubles probably started when he was 16.
Read on to find out why this might be so.
Note: Bolds and underlines added for emphasis.
Link: http://www.diocesephoenix.org/parish/st_marymagdalene/whoweare.htm
Father Cunningham was born in Phoenix in 1949 and grew up in the shadow of the State Capital, the sixth child of Irish immigrants. He attended St. Meinard Seminary in Indiana, where he earned his B.A. in Philosophy and Masters in Divinity. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Phoenix in 1974 and served in two urban parishes before become pastor in Tolleson, Arizona.
He was diocesan vocation director for six years.
An innovator who enjoys a new challenge, Fr. John founded St. Bridget Parish in 1985.
While still a pastor, Fr. John enrolled at ASU where he received an M.A. in Religious Studies in 1997. His thesis was entitled: Gender, Authority and the Gospel of Mary: A Feminist Critique.
Our pastor has taught World Religions and other classes at Mesa and Scottsdale Community Colleges and ASU East.
He also has an extensive background in Jungian psychology, having done a sabbatical at the Jung Institute in Zurich, and been actively involved for years with the Phoenix Friends of Jung.
He is ready and eager to start Gilbert's second Catholic parish. He named it after St. Mary Magdalene in tribute to the devoted friend of Jesus, the first witness to the resurrection, the first evangelist, a perennially illustrious symbol of spiritual illumination, and, in our time, a popular icon of women's empowerment.
Fr. John is an avid reader. He plays guitar and sings Irish songs and, now and then, hammers out a jig. He enjoys snow skiing, animals, and most of all, his mini-daschund, Bailey. His travels have taken him to Israel, Russia, Japan, China, India, Nepal, Mexico and Brazil, all over Europe, and annually, to a cozy cottage in the West of Ireland that he calls his second home.
Our founding pastor is a friendly, outgoing man who stresses hospitality, loves a party and a lively intellectual discussion. He accepts people where they are, but strives to enlarge horizons of mind and heart with a vision of what we can yet become as individuals and as a church.
His motto is: "This day will never come again."