Isn't every UK Catholic priest out of control?
Catàm/téHätêr
PORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN
Nov 25 2002
tracks down gay sex scandal priest to holiday island pulpit
Anna Smith And Steve Smith Exclusive
A CATHOLIC priest who quit after a gay porn scandal is back working secretly as
a preacher on a holiday island.
The Record can reveal that Father Jim Nicol, who had himself photographed while
a man performed a sex act on him in his Scots chapel house, is working in the
bustling resort of Playa del Ingles in Gran Canaria.
The shamed 48-year-old priest - described as being "sexually out of control"
and who stored thousands of computer images of young men having sex - quit his
parish after we exposed his sordid obsession with gay porn.
But exactly two years later, we tracked Nicol down to a small church just a few
miles from the brash resort which is one of Europe's top gay retreats.
Nicol was at St Anthony's,
in Springhall, Rutherglen, near Glasgow, and and sat in judgment on couples
wanting their marriages annulled.
But the Record exposed how he even downloaded the perverted pictures on his
office computer, running up huge bills on the internet.
Using pseudonyms like Stabber, F***, Hunks, Leather and Kilt the priest spent
hours in sex chatrooms online.
He bragged on the web about the size of his genitals and offered to swap his
picture with other homosexuals.
Nicol had the important title of "officialis" in charge of the National
Marriage Tribunal office.
Colleagues at the marriage tribunal office stumbled on the computer porn by
chance.
An investigation found more than 1000 files and folders filled with images of
naked men having sex.
He was then said to have quit the priesthood and been recommended for a six-
month programme in a US clinic to deal with "his deep-seated difficulties in
relation to his sexual identity".
But he is back in the pulpit.
Nicol has been working as an assistant to the parish priest at Templo
Ecumenico, a church on the outskirts of Playa del Ingles for the past few
months.
Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell Diocese dealt with the scandal in Scotland
at the time.
Yesterday Alan Draper, the former adviser to the Catholic Church, who was
called in to deal with Nicol in 2000, said: "I am shocked, but not surprised
that Fr Nicol is still functioning as a priest."
"We were told he had resigned when, in fact, he hadn't.
"It is pretty appalling that he's been given a new job in Gran Canaria.
"He must have been supported by the Church or he wouldn't have been able to
work there.
"Although the bishop (at Gran Canaria) would have taken him on without a
reference. If that was open and honest about Fr Nicol's past then it begs the
question of the Bishop at Gran Canaria taking him on knowing his history."
Mr Draper believes that the Catholic Church has failed the people of Nicol's
former diocese.
Just a few miles away from the church is a resort where drag shows sit
alongside seedy sex shows.
The Catholic community in the little enclave away from the tawdry bars, who
attend the Mass in English every Sunday evening, have no idea that the priest
assisting on the altar left his parish after the gay scandal that rocked the
Catholic Church.
During the Record expose, we revealed that the head of Scotland's Catholics,
the late Cardinal Winning was informed about the discovery of the porn images -
including one of Nicol on his computer - and was sickened by it.
He passed the case on to Nicol's boss, Bishop Devine.
A year passed before Bishop Devine wrote to Nicol asking him to meet Alan
Draper. The letter, obtained by the Record, was surprisingly supportive. Bishop
Devine wrote: "Clearly, Jim, there is a problem that has to be addressed. It is
not my intention to do other than offer you some "in- house" support at the
local level."
Alan Draper was appointed by the Catholic Church in 1995 to head investigations
after a series of sex scandals.
Bishop Devine eventually removed Nicol from his job at the marriage tribunal
but let him remain as an assistant priest at St Anthony's.
Mr Draper recommended Nicol be sent to a clinic in America for a week's
assessment. The clinic, St Luke's Institute in Maryland, wanted Nicol to return
for a full six-month programme to deal with "his deep-seated difficulties in
relation to his sexual identity".
A special unit in Glasgow agreed that Nicol needed treatment.
Police were brought in after Mr Draper contacted them, fearing some of the men
in the pictures might be under age.
He had become frustrated at what he saw as inaction by Catholic leaders. He
believes he himself was only called in after senior Church figures put pressure
on Bishop Devine.
By the time Mr Draper got police on the case, the material had been wiped from
Nicol's computer. Officers said it would be difficult to move against the
priest without evidence.
Mr Draper no longer works with the Church, having accused the hierarchy of an
"unwitting cover- up" in a separate case of a priest accused of child abuse.
Father Nicol was ordained in 1978. Having studied at Blairs College, near
Aberdeen, and the Scots College in Rome, he spent most of his working life with
the tribunal.
With promotion to Officialis, considered one of the most important jobs in the
church, there came a flat within the tribunal offices .
The Victorian villa is in the attractive area of Woodrow Road, Pollokshields,
in Glasgow.
Last night, a spokesman for the Catholic Church said: "As far as Bishop Devine
is concerned Father Nicol will never return to work in Scotland."
--
“Then the Lord said, 'Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down” Genesis 18:20,21 “Then the Lord rained on Sodom and
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven” Genesis 19:24 “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an ABOMINATION” Leviticus 18:22 “If a man lies with
male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an ABOMINATION; they shall be put to DEATH, their blood is upon them.” Leviticus 20:13 “on the day when Lot went out from Sodom
fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all” Luke 17:29 “For this reason God gave them up to dishonourable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for
unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their
own persons the due penalty for their error.” Romans 1:26-27 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor
idolaters, not adulterers, nor HOMOSEXUALS (arsenokoitai), nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians
6:9,10 “understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers
of fathers an murderers of mothers, for manslayers, immoral persons, SODOMITES, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine” 1 Timothy 1:9-10
“if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to exctinction and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly” 2 Peter 2:6“just as Sodom and
Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.” Jude 7