AN investigation into a parish priest suspended for his memoirs alleging a culture of homosexual bullying within the church will also deal with his accusations.
Father Matthew Despard was suspended amid dramatic scenes at the weekend after a penal judicial process was launched, a full eight months after his book Priesthood In Crisis was put on sale.
However, church sources have said that, as well as investigating Father Despard's conduct in releasing the book and its impact on serving clergy, any probe would have to examine what is alleged within it.
It is also understood that Father Despard was aware as far back as last Tuesday that Motherwell's acting bishop Joseph Toal would act to have him removed from St John Ogilvie Church in Blantyre on Saturday.
The priest, who was accompanied by his lawyer when Bishop Toal arrived at the South Lanarkshire church at the weekend, has also been accused of refusing to meet with the hierarchy to discuss the investigation and suspension.
The 48-year-old priest published his book in the aftermath of the resignation of Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who was stood down after admitting to decades of sexual encounters with other Catholic clergy.
In the book Father Despard claims he was approached inappropriately as a seminarian and said trainee priests who spurned advances of others were bullied. He also complained of having his claims ignored.
The book has since been withdrawn by Amazon, with some fellow priests threatening legal action against their colleague.
On Saturday, just before he was due to say mass, a statement was read by Bishop Toal on the suspension of Father Despard, sparking a walkout by many parishioners and scenes described as a near-riot.
Even senior figures within the church have said the intervention of Bishop Toal was cack-handed.
However, one added: "This investigation will look at the damage Matthew Despard has caused to members of the clergy and parishioners. I don't think it means he'll be laicised but he may have to offer a public apology.
"Running alongside that there would have to be an investigation into what the book alleges and how much of what Despard says about clergy past and present is true. Even his detractors don't rubbish it all.
"I guess Toal's been under pressure from members of the clergy over Matthew Despard but the approach is what's created the stir here. Anyone who makes such allegations about their employer would be suspended. The same thing has happened here, apart from the drama."
One parishioner who contacted The Herald said: "This was not a case of a mass walkout in support of Father Despard. Many of those who left on Sunday did so because of the uproar. There have also been many unfamiliar faces in the church over the weekend.
"I've read his book. He makes a lot of good points. I believe a lot of it. But how he's gone about this has been totally wrong and he's created a situation where there's lots of innuendo about people within the parish. He also refused several meetings with the bishop and manufactured the situation on Saturday."
It is also understood Father Despard has been offered alternative accommodation while the investigation is completed.
A spokesman for Bishop Toal said: "Since there is a canonical case in progress at the present time, Bishop Toal felt it was appropriate to remove Father Matthew Despard from parish ministry, until the judicial process has run its course.
"This action does not prejudge the case in any way."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article