Bishop loses battle with cancer

Roddy Wright was suffering from liver cancer

The former Bishop of Argyll and the Isles has lost his battle with liver cancer.

Roddy Wright shocked the Catholic Church and sparked a media frenzy when he disappeared nine years ago.

It emerged that he had run off with one of his parishioners, divorced mother-of-three Kathleen MacPhee.

He later stepped down from the church, married the divorcee on a Caribbean Island and started a new life with her in New Zealand.

It emerged in January last year that the clergyman had undergone at least one operation for a severe form of liver cancer.

I pray for the repose of the soul of Roddy Wright and extend my sympathy to all those who mourn his loss Cardinal Keith O'Brien

He had been described as "gravely ill".

The former bishop grabbed headlines around the world when he disappeared from his chapel house in Oban in 1996.

It also emerged that the clergyman had a secret love child as the result of an affair with another former parishioner in the early 1980s.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics, said: "I pray for the repose of the soul of Roddy Wright and extend my sympathy to all those who mourn his loss."

Harry Conroy, editor of the Scottish Catholic Observer, said the former bishop was well regarded by the communities he served.

'Fondly remembered'

"As a priest and a bishop he did a lot of good for a lot of people," he said.

"There will be many people in the Western Highlands and Islands who remember him for the things he did and the kindness he showed them."

The current Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, Ian Murray, said he was "very sorry" to hear of Mr Wright's death.

"He will be fondly remembered by the priests and people of this diocese for the many kindnesses he displayed during his time in Argyll and the Isles," Bishop Murray said.

"I extend my sympathy to his family and friends and offer my prayers for the repose of his soul."