Jeg leste tidligere i dag om en katolsk sogneprest i Skottland som nylig publiserte en bok om upassende seksuelle holdninger og praksis ved presteseminarer, som Kirken ikke i særlig grad har innrømmet:
…. Fr Despard, the parish priest of St John Ogilvie church in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, says he fears for the future of his Church if no action is taken to end the scandal.
He has taken the difficult decision to publish a book on his experiences, Priesthood in Crisis.
Yesterday, he admitted he had struggled with his conscience before going ahead with publication.
The book was first written in 2010 but he self-published it on Amazon’s Kindle store last week in the wake of the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien.
In the bombshell book, Fr Despard writes: “My concern is that if we don’t face up to what is happening in reality, the Church will suffer enormous damage.
“The accusations I have been making may appear intolerable to some and truly I have trouble making them.
“Over and over, I have to continue to convince myself to keep writing despite the prejudicial nature of what I have to say.
“But so much of the problematic state of the priesthood stems from the junior seminaries, where training took place cut off from the world, that were laws unto themselves, where abuse became so rife that many had to be closed. …