William Finnegan, 59, said he kept the civil marriage a secret from the church and his parishioners.

Finnegan, known to his parishioners as Father Bill, was parish priest at St Clare's Church in Bradford when the girl accused him of forcefully kissing her.

His barrister told the jury: "You may be thinking that he is only human, that Father Bill, as a Catholic priest, has taken a vow of celibacy, condemning himself to a single and lonely life filled with perhaps an underlying sexual frustration….

"Well, we are going to hear evidence from Father Bill and we are going to be hearing evidence from his wife, Beverley Dawson.

"No, you didn't mishear me. His wife. He and Beverley Dawson secretly married abroad in September 1999. So deeply in love was he that he was prepared to ignore the Catholic Church's ban on marriage, a secret which has been kept from almost everyone until now."

"Whatever the outcome of this case, his ministry as a Catholic priest is well and truly over."

Judge Roger Thomas, QC, asked Finnegan: "Your public announcement of this today is news to everyone?" Finnegan said: "It is, and I will be dealt with."

The judge asked: "Did you think it would compromise your position as a priest, to carry out communion and so on and so forth, or wasn't that an issue?" Finnegan said: "It wasn't an issue."

In evidence, Dawson said her husband would visit her each week after his church service on Sunday, then go back to work on Tuesday.

The apostolic administrator of Leeds diocese, Monsignor John Wilson, said: "I first want to express my deep sense of shame at the actions of William Finnegan. I also want to express my sorrow and regret to his victim."

Sources:

The Guardian

Irish Central

Image: The Telegraph

Fr Lee, who is also a police chaplain, claimed that most priests lead a double life. This claim was completely rejected by Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, who immediately suspended Fr Lee from priestly ministry.

During the interview Fr Lee stated, "I've fallen in love and I've got married and it's outside of most people's awareness," he said. "But I'm sure people within the church could have had a suspicion."

He said his public admission was motivated by the fact that many priests led a double life. "I think celibacy has to go," he said.

The head of the Diocese of Parramatta, Anthony Fisher OP, denied Father Lee's claims that most priests lived double lives and that the church knew about the priest's marriage.

Fr Lee has courted controversy before when he participated in a radio contest in which he was "jailed" in a former prison in Melbourne, for three weeks sharing a cell with a former strip club manager. The priest and seven other contestants were required to perform stunts that were filmed and broadcast such as an egg-eating competition and, in Fr. Lee's case, reciting an advertisement for a potency treatment called Horny Devil Weed.

Fr. Lee won the competition, winning a car — which he kept — and A$20,000 in prize money which he donated to a hostel for homeless men in Sydney. The priest also claims that attendance at his church increased dramatically, especially among young people, and that he even managed to convert the strip club manager to Christianity. He also claimed that his bishop of the time, the Rt Rev Kevin Manning, had approved of his involvement. Nonetheless, following complaints from some parishioners, Fr. Lee was suspended for a period.

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