Out of the habit

"As soon as I left the priesthood, it seems as if I had developed a sort of ecclesiastical disease - nobody wanted to touch me," a former priest told M magazine in an exclusive interview.

Another interviewee, an ex-Salesian, left his calling after six years because his political activism in the 1980s was frowned upon and forbidden by his superiors. Leaving, however, was traumatic. "I felt very equipped but I was also very naïve. I missed out on six years of 'real' life. Suddenly, I had to have a bank account... I didn't even know what a bank was. I had to wake up in the morning to find a job," he recalls.

In M magazine, out tomorrow with The Times, Veronica Stivala finds out what first made them answer their call and then abandon it.

M also tackles habits of a different kind, the ones that make us human and fallible but which also help us rationalise and deal with life. Peppi Azzopardi, Joe Tanti and Double Ironman participant Charles Demanuele confess their addictions to Moira Mizzi.

Man has an ambiguous relationship with fire. Michael Vella interviews three men who have seen both the creative and destructive element of fire. While Sandro Camilleri pulled out the only survivor from the St Helena fireworks factory explosion and Monroe Schmidt saved an elderly neighbour from her burning house, Alan Falzon turned his passion for fire into a job.

M also browses through Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said's photo album, talks to men that work under female bosses, watches men fishing and faces the consequences of overprotecting our children.

M magazine is published by Allied Newspapers Limited and produced by MediaMaker Limited. Its editor is Stanley Borg.