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This Saturday 5 April at 6pm, Newry Cathedral Parish are hosting a diocesan event to celebrate the Jubilee Year. In a story that reads like a powerful spiritual drama, Martina Purdy, former BBC political correspondent turned religious sister is set to share her deeply moving and hope-filled testimony at Newry Cathedral Parish in what promises to be a stirring and inspirational evening.
Martina, once a familiar face on our television screens reporting from the steps of Stormont, made headlines of a very different kind when she walked away from her high-profile broadcasting career in 2014 to follow a divine calling into religious life. She entered the Sisters of Adoration convent in Belfast, embracing a life of prayer, silence, and contemplation as Sr Martina of the Blessed Sacrament.
However, her journey took an unexpected turn five years later, when changes to Vatican rules meant that her congregation no longer had enough to continue her formation. Alongside three other women, including former barrister Elaine Kelly, Martina had to leave religious life and begin anew.
“It was the shock of my life from the God of surprises,” she says candidly. “I went from a two-act play to a dramatic mini-series.”
But out of the ashes of disappointment came a renewed sense of purpose. Now based in her native Belfast at St Michael the Archangel parish, Martina is part of the leadership team, working once again alongside Elaine Kelly. Their mission continues through spiritual retreats, parish ministry, and pilgrimages – most notably as guides along St Patrick’s Way in Downpatrick, where they helped create a unique Camino experience in 2020.
Martina is also a columnist for The Irish Catholic and part of the “Light the Fire” mission with Dana Rosemary Scallon and her husband Damien – an outreach aimed at rekindling the flame of faith first lit by St Patrick on these shores in 432AD.
At the upcoming event in Newry Cathedral Parish, Martina will speak on the theme of “Finding Hope in the Darkness of Impossibility” – a subject she knows intimately.
“It is only when everything falls apart that you really come to know the depths of faith and what hope really means,” she reflects. “When you only have God, you learn that God is enough.”
Her story is a compelling reminder that faith is not about perfection or predictability, but perseverance and trust in the face of the unknown.
This is an unmissable opportunity to hear from a woman who left the corridors of power for the sake of the Gospel. All are welcome to attend what promises to be an evening of honesty, inspiration, and renewed hope. Her talk will take place as part of the Vigil Mass.
