SCOTLAND'S newest ­Catholic bishop will take up his new post after almost of a year of being embroiled in an ongoing row involving a controversial fellow cleric.

Pope Francis appointed Father William Nolan as Bishop of Galloway on Saturday.

Father Nolan is currently parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes, East Kilbride and Vicar General of the Diocese of Motherwell, effectively its number two.

But Father Nolan has also been a key player in the fallout surrounding Father Matthew Despard, suspended last year after publishing allegations of homosexual bullying within the Church in the wake of the Cardinal O'Brien sex scandal.

Father Nolan had been charged with taking over his colleagues parish in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, and has been called to give evidence in a case to remove Father Despard from the parish house.

It was also revealed recently how Father Nolan had ordered supporters of father Despard from St John Ogilvie in Blantyre, claiming they did not have his permission to pray for the suspended priest in the church.

In court, the Bishop-elect told how he had hired­ ­joiners to force entry into the house and change the locks on two occasions because Father Despard was not allowing him access.

In near farcical allegations, the court has also heard how the parish house had been booby-trapped, with curry powder placed above doors to target Father Nolan. In his evidence Father Despard said Father William Nolan had sought to replace him to get revenge after friends of his had been mentioned in the book Priesthood In Crisis.