Gal played an important role in the politics of the Church, as the Council of Clermont (535) was hosted under his episcopate.
[3] While his parents proposed to have him married to a daughter of a respectable senator, Gal had other plans, and privately withdrew to a monastery at Cournon.
Gal's intelligence and piety caused his recommendation as councilor to Quintianus, the bishop of Clermont, who ordained him a priest.
[5] It was during this time that Gal's extraordinary equanimity was most tested: one story reports that the bishop was "struck on the head by a brutal man, [yet] he discovered not the least emotion of anger or resentment, and by this meekness disarmed the savage of his rage.
Although the proud man acted insultingly to Gal, the bishop's reaction was simply to rise from his seat and make a visit to the churches of the city.