Church rejects whistleblower priest's bid to reverse sacking

By Gerry Braiden
Herald Scotland
March 17, 2015

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/vatican-dismisses-abuse-claims-priest-on-health-grounds.120731029

A CATHOLIC priest who made allegations of sexual abuse against a fellow cleric has failed in his last ditch attempt to reverse a decision by the Vatican effectively sacking him.

Father Patrick Lawson has been told by the church's highest court that it was upholding a decision dismissing him as a parish priest in Ayrshire, citing ill-health as preventing him doing the job.

The ruling, by the Signatura in Rome, added that Father Lawson's "ministry has been rendered substantially ineffectual to a large body of parishioners".

But one fellow priest said "all fingers pointed" to the priest speaking out against Father Paul Moore in the 1990s, as the root cause of his dismissal. Moore later admitted to his bishop he abused boys

The Galston priest, who once described the church as a mafia seeking to destroy him, had been issued with a decree to remove him back in mid-2013, with his then bishop raising concerns about his physical and psychological health.

Father Lawson had been recovering from bladder cancer and receiving counselling at the time.

A statement to parishioners from the recently-installed Bishop of Galloway William Nolan said Father Lawson had not been removed from the priesthood and would be supported by the Diocese. However, the ruling removes him from running a parish or pastoral duties.

He still has a civil action pending against the church on the grounds of unfair dismissal.

Father Lawson has claimed that as a seminarian he was abused in 1996 by Moore at St Quivox Church in Prestwick, with the church failing to deal appropriately with his complaint in the intervening years.

The matter was reported to the police but did not proceed to prosecution.

A decade ago, with clergy numbers dwindling, he was posted to a three-church parish and merged two. After he was diagnosed with cancer, former bishop John Cunningham insisted he should retire, referencing letters "sent by your medical doctors and psychotherapist".

His condition sparked a parish split, with some complaining about the impact his health had on his ability to fulfil his duties while others wrote letters of support to Rome.

He appealed to Rome against removal from his office as Parish Priest of St Sophia's Galston and St Paul's Hurlford.

but failed before another appeal to the Signatura last year. It emerged at the weekend that this too has failed.

The final statement noted that Father Lawson was "as a result of ill-health, unable to dedicate himself to the full pastoral care of the parishes entrusted to him...he has verifiably declined or resisted all reasonable solutions to his predicament, namely a review of his duties".

It claimed "the existence of two groups among the faithful, one in zealous support and the other in considerable disaffection...strongly suggests a notable division within the parish community", adding that the loss of his "good name among upright and serious-minded parishioners is unlikely to come to an end".

But one friend in the clergy said: "I was sick to the stomach when I heard this. The Bishop gave us the option of reading the letter out or leaving it for people to pick it up.

"I couldn't read it. It was a statement. I've always said there's more to this than meets the eye."

A statement on behalf of the Diocese said: "Bishop Nolan urges the priests and people of the Diocese to accept the decision, to pray that the wounds of those hurt by this process may be healed and to work for reconciliation and harmony in the Church."