A PRIEST has claimed he was the victim of a vendetta from a fellow clergyman whose friends were named in a book he wrote about a "gay mafia" in the Catholic Church.
Father Matthew Despard said Father William Nolan sought to replace him to get revenge after he was suspended over the book Priesthood In Crisis.
Fr Despard, 49, was ordered to leave his home at St John Ogilvie in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, but refused, disobeying the wishes of the Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Toal.
Bishop Toal told Fr Despard to leave the house in November 2013 but the Church has now taken legal action to evict him.
A civil hearing at Hamilton Sheriff Court heard Fr Despard tell how Fr Nolan had forced entry to the property and began staying there occasionally overnight.
He said: "I would say Fr Nolan took on the responsibility because his friends were mentioned in the book and he had a vendetta against me. He took it on as a vendetta, that's quite clear in the way he acted towards me. No other priest would treat somebody else like that unless they had a motive. If it was someone who was neutral that's fine.
"I didn't want to stay in that house because of the pelters I was taking off Fr Nolan and his little group. But I was following the advice I was given under canon law.
"I am here to fight for my priesthood."
The hearing, before Sheriff Joyce Powrie, has been adjourned until December.
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