SCOTLAND
Scotsman
MIKE MACEACHERAN
A PRIEST who caused controversy when he wrote of the sex abuse he suffered while growing up in a seminary has gone missing during a "soul-searching" trip to Ireland.
Friends say that Father Steve Gilhooley, 42, has become disillusioned with the Catholic Church and has quit.
In his last public statement before disappearing, Gilhooley launched a bitter attack on the appointment as Pope of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - who he accused of trying to silence him.
And he revealed he would not be returning to the priesthood.
Last year the leader of the Scottish Catholic Church, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who had been a close friend and confidant of Gilhooley, gave him permission to take a year's sabbatical from his Our Lady's parish in Currie near Edinburgh.
Worried friends say Gilhooley has not been in touch since he wrote an article in the Irish Times newspaper attacking the election of Pope Benedict XVI and indicating he was quitting the church.
Posted by kshaw at June 8, 2005 09:43 AM