{"id":10421,"date":"2013-03-15T18:32:32","date_gmt":"2013-03-15T23:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/?p=10421"},"modified":"2016-09-30T15:58:14","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:58:14","slug":"priest-accused-of-abuse-drops-another-shocker-hes-married","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2013\/03\/priest-accused-of-abuse-drops-another-shocker-hes-married\/","title":{"rendered":"Priest Accused of Abuse Drops Another Shocker: He\u2019s Married"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Oh, no.<\/strong>\u00a0 This is just so sad.<\/p>\n

A British court is about to reach a verdict in a sexual assault case against Father William Finnegan,<\/strong> pastor of St. Clare\u2019s Roman Catholic Church in Fagley, Bradford.\u00a0 According to a report in the Daily Mail, Father Finnegan is accused of forcibly kissing and inappropriately touching a 17-year-old girl last Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n

The priest insists that he was not at fault<\/strong>\u2014that in fact, the teenager had initiated the encounter, kissing him on the lips, and he\u00a0forcefully\u00a0pushed her away, explaining that her action was inappropriate.<\/p>\n

But to buttress his defense, Finnegan\u2019s barrister Jeffrey Hill Baker dropped another bomb:\u00a0 The Catholic priest had been secretly married to a former parishioner in 1999.\u00a0<\/strong> Hill-Baker told the jury:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018You 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 because, let\u2019s face it, it is not a natural state for a human to be in.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018It would be understandable for you to be thinking, \u201cWell, perhaps it just got the best of him with that 17-year-old\u201d.\u2019<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
St. Clare Church, where Fr. Finnegan has served and where he is accused of assaulting a 17-year-old girl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But no, that\u2019s not true.<\/strong>\u00a0 Father Finnegan is secretly married to Beverly Dawson, a mother of two who had been his parishioner when he served at a parish in Castleford.\u00a0 The marriage took place while the couple vacationed in Cyprus in September 1999, after her marriage ended in divorce.\u00a0 \u201cFar from being celibate,\u201d<\/em> the attorney explained, \u201cthey enjoyed a full and active sex life.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, you didn\u2019t mishear me,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Hill-Baker assured the stunned jury.\u00a0 \u201cHe was so deeply in love that he was prepared to ignore the Catholic Church\u2019s ban on marriage, a secret which has been kept from almost everyone until now\u2026. Whatever the outcome of this case, his ministry as a Catholic priest is well and truly over.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So this priest had already broken his vow of celibacy,<\/strong> demonstrating a lack of control and a willingness to disregard the rules of his Church.\u00a0 Has he broken his vow once again with a teenager?\u00a0<\/strong> The jury\u2019s decision may come as early as today.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh, no.\u00a0 This is just so sad. A British court is about to reach a verdict in a sexual assault case against Father William Finnegan, pastor of St. Clare\u2019s Roman Catholic Church in Fagley, Bradford.\u00a0 According to a report in the Daily Mail, Father Finnegan is accused of forcibly kissing and inappropriately touching a 17-year-old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[972],"tags":[1121],"class_list":["post-10421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abuse","tag-fr-bill-finnegan"],"yoast_head":"\nPriest Accused of Abuse Drops Another Shocker: He\u2019s Married<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Oh, no.\u00a0 This is just so sad. 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