On International Surfing Day, which is celebrated this June 18, an Australian Catholic priest, who saved a surfer from a shark attack in 2020, shares how this sport brings him closer to God.
Father Liam Ryan, an Australian priest who serves as chaplain at St. John of God Public Hospital in Midland, in the Archdiocese of Perth, rescued surfer Phil Mummert, 28, along with two friends, on July 31, 2020. , of a white shark attack in Bunker Bay.
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Their brave action earned the three of them the Australian Bravery Award (Australian Bravery Award).
In statements to ACI Prensa in June 2022, Father Ryan said that he continues “surfing after the attack, because I love it, it relaxes me and it is a good way to exercise mentally, physically and spiritually.”
“What I like most about surfing is the joy it gives me. “It is an incredible way to experience nature,” he highlighted.
Surfing and God
“There are many things in surfing that depend on the waves or their absence. Surfing means being able to adapt to the conditions you are in, sometimes calm, sometimes crazy.”
The chaplain also said that “surfing for me has always been a divine experience. When I was young I remember always praying before surfing that God would keep me safe. Life and death are not in our hands but in God’s. The same is with surfing.”
“I think that helps me be grateful to God for the gift of nature, the gift of life,” he highlighted, adding that the “many wonders of the ocean” make him naturally “think of God and I thank him.”
Fr Liam Ryan started surfing at the age of 12 with his older brother, with a board they gave him.
“Learning to surf is not always easy. Many times the waves knock you over and you end up swallowing water, but perseverance pays off and if you love something it becomes easy. I see many parallels with the spiritual life,” the priest told ACI Prensa.
Sport and commitment
Father Ryan also recalled that priests are ordinary people like any other.
“Priests are normal people. When I see other surfers in the water we talk frequently, and when they ask me what I do and I tell them that I am a Catholic priest, the reactions are usually surprise,” he said.
This, he continued, “connects me with a lot of people. We are body and spirit. Participating in a sport that engages your body and spirit is very important, I think. Whether it’s soccer, tennis or whatever, it’s a way to grow personally and engage with others.”
To conclude, the Australian priest and surfer told ACI Prensa that “sports are a gift from God. I think they help us understand ourselves, understand others, understand God and nature in a beautiful way.”
Originally published June 18, 2022. It has been updated for republication.
Walter Sanchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.