70-year-old bishop hits the slopes with schoolchildren

RUMFORD — There’s a time to worship, and there’s a time to carve up the slopes.

Bishop Robert Deeley of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland did both when he fulfilled a promise to ski with elementary and middle school students of Holy Savior Catholic school.

The 70-year-old Deeley told the Sun Journal http://bit.ly/2l8GmRx that Friday’s ski outing at Black Mountain gave him an opportunity “to talk to the kids about nature as God’s gift to us.”

Deeley is a longtime skier. He recalled accompanying students and parents on day trips for skiing when he was the pastor of St. Ann Parish in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Before Friday’s outing, students held up a banner and shouted that everything they do is for the glory of God. The bishop shouted back: “Especially skiing!”