Local priest is Internet video star

The Rev. Jeffrey Mickler of Ellsworth doesn’t look like a trendy Internet video star, but he’s a hit in cyberspace.

The bespectacled 61-year-old Catholic priest of the Society of St. Paul with a white beard, receding hairline and teacherlike demeanor produced and starred in the fifth-most-watched video on Sharkle.com. He lives at the religious order’s residence, commonly referred to as St. Paul’s Monastery on U.S. Route 224, west of Canfield.

For his effort, he won a first prize of $2,500 for his video commenting on “Warren Jeffs’ Arrest and the Limits of Religious Freedom,” in the Get Political Contest on Friendster.com. The priest turned over the check to his religious order.

A recent count showed that Father Mickler’s video on Jeffs had received some 242,969 views on Sharkle.com, which co-sponsored the contest and hosted the videos. All his videos on Sharkle.com have received some 347,277 views.

To view Father Mickler's videos on YouTube, click here.

For the complete story, read Monday's Vindicator and Vindy.com.