SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland
Monday 20 April 2015
Jody Harrison
Reporter
A PRIEST who alleged that a “powerful gay Mafia” was behind sexual bullying in the Scottish catholic Church has been found guilty of defaming churchmen and parishioners.
Father Matthew Despard, of St John Ogilvie in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, made the claims in a self-published book titled “priesthood in crisis”, claiming that sexual misconduct had been widespread in junior seminaries for decades.
He also said he had alerted church authorities, but that nothing had been done.
Father Despard will now be removed from his parish and will spend three months in penance after a church tribunal found him guilty of injuring the reputation of the church and its clergy.
In a letter to the priest, the Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Toal, said: “The judges determined that of the 21 of the 26 charges brought against Father Despard, five were not proven.
“In the majority of cases, the tribunal ruled that Father Despard had injured the good reputation of a number of people, both lay and clergy.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.