Nouwen knew the search for intimacy was difficult for celibate Roman Catholic priests whose seminary training had underlined the dangers of special relationships and of getting too close to people. But he was not a person to keep up his clerical guard all the time, and friends talk about his readiness to admit to his needs: ‘You may think I'm the famous one and that you need me to help you understand your spiritual life,’ he would say. ‘But actually I need you more.’
