SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland
Wednesday 22 January 2014
Gerry Braiden
Senior reporter
AN OUTSPOKEN priest suspended for alleging a culture of homosexual bullying within the Catholic Church in Scotland is facing legal action to remove him from the parish house.
Father Matthew Despard, who has been suspended since last November, is alleged to be refusing to leave at the presbytery house of St John Ogilvie, High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, having changed the locks.
He continues to live in the property against the will of the interim Bishop Of Motherwell Joseph Toal, leading to the start of court action against him.
Father Despard, who has also faced threats of civil action by fellow priests who believe they have been defamed in his book, Priesthood In Crisis, was due to appear at Hamilton Sheriff Court last week as part of the action but the matter did not progress.
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