The Vatican is investigating rumors of a ‘sex party’ at Newcastle Cathedral | catholic

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The Vatican is investigating rumors of a ‘sex party’ at a British cathedral that allegedly took place during lockdown.

As part of the inquiry into the circumstances of Robert Byrne’s resignation as Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, the Catholic Church is looking into allegations that one of his priests invited his congregation to a private ceremony at his residence.

Several people are said to have complained that Father Michael McCoy, Dean of Newcastle Cathedral, had approached them for a party at a time when gatherings were not allowed.

A diocese source told The Sunday Times: “A number of complaints have been made by individuals within the diocese after information emerged about a sex party taking place in the priests’ quarters attached to Newcastle Cathedral.”

McCoy, 57, killed himself in April 2021 four days after it was discovered he was under investigation by Northumbria Police’s Child and Adult Protection Division for child sexual abuse.

He was hired by Byrne in 2019, replacing famous father Dermot Donnelly, the older brother of TV presenter Declan Donnelly. Father Donnelly has since passed away after falling ill in July 2022.

Although there is no indication that Byrne attended the ceremony, he resigned as Bishop in December, telling the congregation that his office had “become too much of a burden”.

In a letter to the clergy, read at St Mary’s Cathedral in Newcastle, he said: “My personal discrimination has led me to realize that I now feel unable to continue to serve the people of the diocese in the way I would like to.”

He was appointed in 2019, having previously served as Assistant Dean of the Diocese of Birmingham and Dean of Discourse at Oxford from 1993 to 2011.

In a letter seen by The Sunday Times, the Archbishop of Liverpool, Malcolm McMahon, who runs the diocese until the appointment of a successor to Byrne and is leading the inquiry into his resignation, said the pope’s advisors had asked him to produce an “in-depth report on the events which led to Bishop Byrne’s resignation”.

The Catholic Protective Standards Agency (CSSA) last week launched an “unscheduled safeguarding audit” of the archdiocese.

CSSA CEO Steve Ashley said the body was independent and had “total independence”. “The scope of the investigation’s work will cover any abuses reported, abuses alleged, safeguarding concerns and the culture of safeguarding in the diocese as a whole,” he said.

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“The scope of work of the investigation will cover any abuses reported, abuses alleged, safeguarding concerns and the safeguarding culture in the diocese as a whole,” Ashley added.

Former Attorney General for the North West of England Nazir Afzal, chair of the CSSA, added: “There is no doubt we will leave no stone unturned when it comes to keeping people safe, and that includes investigating the culture of protection in Hexham and Newcastle.”

The diocese said it has voluntarily referred itself to the CSSA and the Charities Committee and will continue to work productively and expeditiously with both organisations, learning where it needs to be, not from rumors and misinformation, but from facts and evidence presented.

She added that she “remains fully committed to protection as an integral part of the church’s life and ministry.”

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