Priest to fight parishioner in charity boxing match

A Catholic priest is donning his boxing gloves for a charity fight next month.
 
Fr Pierre “Jalapeno” Pepper, parish priest of St Rynagh’s in Banagher, Co Offaly, will be squaring up to parishioner Jared “The Artful Dodger” Madden to raise money for the St Vincent de Paul Society and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.
 
The pair have been interviewed by the BBC and appeared on The Late Late Show after a video of Fr Pepper calling out his opponent went viral.
 
Fr Pepper said he was enjoying his five minutes of fame but would be keeping out of the way of his bishop.
 
He said: “I don’t know if the bishop has seen the video, he hasn’t rang me to ask me to go and see him.
 
“I won’t be answering the phone!”

The fight will take place on March 14 as part of a white-collar boxing tournament billed as the St Patrick’s Weekend Punch Up.
 
Fr Pepper is currently training four times a week and said the rest of his parishioners found the fight hilarious.
 
He said: “You meet people in the street and people driving by put their fists up.”

In the video, which has received over 500 likes on Facebook, Fr Pepper warns Mr Madden of his impending doom by quoting biblical prophecies against a backdrop of five menacing priests.