SCOTLAND'S newest priest has been ordained in hospital in his wheelchair after he was left critically ill when his treatment for leukaemia failed.
Father Graham Turner, 48, from Edinburgh, had his ordination postponed last June after he was diagnosed and doctors began aggressive treatment.
When Cardinal Keith O'Brien heard that the prognosis was bleak for the critically ill deacon of St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, plans to ordain him for St Andrews and Edinburgh Archdiocese were revived.
Despite the deacon's frailty, he was ordained by Cardinal O'Brien on Easter Monday in the chapel at Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester.
Cardinal O'Brien said yesterday: "The ordination went beautifully. He was wheeled in his hospital bed to the chapel and transferred into a padded wheelchair for the ceremony."
Father Turner assisted in the Mass and was able, with help from nursing staff, to stand for a short time at the beginning before he had to sit down again.
Cardinal O'Brien added: "He participated fully and was aware of everything that was going on.
"During the actual ordination, I anointed his hands and seminarian Jeremy Milne put the stole around his neck."
Father Turner was supported by his family and clergy friends from Salford diocese and St Andrews and Edinburgh archdiocese.
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