An employment tribunal hearing into Monsignor Joe Creegan’s controversial dismissal as a priest in Dundee has been postponed. The pre-hearing debate was due to take place today, however lawyers acting for both parties had indicated they required further time to prepare their cases.
The parties will now be written to with a new date for the hearing, which a spokesperson for the tribunals office said is expected to be put down for three days.
Monsignor Creegan was sacked after having an 18-year affair with a married woman and is suing the Catholic Church for unfair dismissal.
The former parish priest of St Peter and St Paul’s Church was stripped of his priestly duties by Bishop Vincent Logan of Dunkeld in January after his long-term mistress gave “evidence” of the affair to the diocese.
It is believed the diocese may settle out of court to avoid further damaging claims about Creegan’s tenure with the Catholic Church in Dundee being aired in public.
His 62-year-old long-term mistress confessed to the affair after details of his illicit relationship with a second woman came to light.
The priest became close to the 48-year-old after she and her former husband went to him for guidance when their 23-year marriage began to break down.
Creegan has denied his relationship with the woman is anything other than platonic despite the fact they now share a joint mortgage on a £300,000 house in Balmerino.
Monsignor Creegan’s case has parallels with that of Angus Church of Scotland minister Helen Percy, who was suspended from her post as an associate minister for six glen parishes in the Presbytery of Angus in 1997, after being accused of having an affair with a married elder.
She subsequently resigned and went to an employment tribunal, which ruled they could not hear her case because her employment was essentially spiritual and not covered by civil law. That decision was overturned in 2005 by Law Lords in London, prompting the Church of Scotland to settle the case for £10,000.
A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Dunkeld said, “As proceedings have started the diocese feels it is inappropriate to comment at this time.”
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