SCOTLAND
Christian Today
James Macintyre 19 July 2016
A Scottish Catholic priest serving a ten month jail sentence for embezzling £100,000 of church money to fund an alleged gambling problem has apparently asked that Pope Francis allow him to quit the clergy.
Fr Graeme Bell was parish priest of Our Lady Star of the Sea church, known locally as St Mary’s, in Saltcoats before being convicted of stealing from the Ayrshire parish between March and May 2015 after admitting to an online gambling problem.
Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard last month how Bell, 41, suffered from anxiety and depression which “reached a stage where he was not behaving as a law abiding individual”.
Now, according to The Herald, the local bishop, William Nolan, has visited the congregation and informed parishioners that Bell has asked to leave the priesthood, a process known as laicisation.
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