Priests are often ordained on or around 29 June because it is the feast day of Sts Peter and Paul. It is incredible to think that two of the most important saints in the Christian calendar share a feast day. We could easily have doubled our money by having a separate day for each of them. Traditionally, we say that Peter and Paul symbolise two facets of Christianity: mission and maintenance. Paul is the great missionary and Peter the great leader, the one who held the earliest disciples together. The only problem with this evenly balanced paradigm is that it overlooks the fact that Peter was also a great missionary and Paul was also a master maintainer.

Though both of them were crucial to the early Christian community’s survival and expansion, it’s their worst moments that may have the most to teach us right now.