BRITISH newspapers had been hunting the former Bishop of Argyll and the Isles and Ms Kathleen MacPhee for two weeks, and when their exclusive story was unveiled in the News of the World yesterday, its managing editor, Mr Stuart Kuttner, was duly pleased.
The News of the World, he told its readers, was giving them an opportunity to read a "very moving and powerful story of a very human man".
It had located the couple, who "have come out of hiding and want their account to be known", and they would talk about their disappearance which "began a saga that has gripped the world".
In the two page interview, for which Mr Kuttner says he will he paid "a five figure sum", Dr Wright said he hoped to marry Ms MacPhee at a later date. He said that he looked forward to a time when the couple could rebuild their lives and "practise the Catholic faith".
"I have resigned as a bishop and can no longer practise as a priest. But Kathleen and I will practise the Catholic faith and we shall go to church and pray together for forgiveness. We have talked about marriage. But we can never he married in the eyes of the church. Kathleen is divorced and although I will not practise as a priest the vows I took at ordination will remain.
Dr Wright spoke of his first meetings with Ms MacPhee. At the time he had been counselling her through a divorce and a battle against cervical cancer.
Their feelings towards each other at that time, he said, amounted to a "close friendship" which after a year had developed into "more than just a genuine concern". He said: "It was more of a feeling. I was thinking of Kathleen all the time. It was on my mind and my conscience and I prayed for guidance. I prayed an awful lot. But it developed with something that we both recognised as love. I was afraid of the consequences and I thought the situation was impossible."
Dr Wright said he knew that he could have turned to fellow priests for guidance, but that he "would have known what the answer was anyway. The answer I would have been given was to stop the friendship. There is a difference between cold logic and love. And this was becoming love".
The relationship with Ms Joanna Whibley was, he admitted, "a totally different relationship to this" with Ms MacPhee, "and that is all I am prepared to say on that". But Dr Wright did admit that he has a "very guilty conscience" because of the manner in which he has treated his son, Kevin. It amounted to "negligence" he said, but he did not know how he could "bring him his happiness".
In speaking of his hopeless attract ion to Ms MacPhee, Dr Wright also expressed regret for the hurt and damage he had caused his son, Kevin. He said the guilt which he had felt over the secrecy surrounding his son had prompted him to consider refusing the Bishopric of Argyll and the Isles, but that his courage had failed him.
"I wanted to say I shouldn't do it but I didn't go through with the [telephone] calls. I knew I shouldn't be bishop because I was the father of Kevin. For many a day I have rued that I was appointed. I want to apologise for all the hurt and damage.
When he discussed the timetable of events following his disappearance from his parish in Oban, Dr Wright said he felt he had followed the correct church procedure by informing Cardinal Winning of the full details of his private life and his intention to "begin a new life" with Kathleen MacPhee. In that meeting, he said, he explained to Cardinal Winning that he felt he should not have been ordained as a bishop. "I told them all that last Sunday for release the next day. But they said nothing for five days.
On Tuesday last week, Cardinal Winning suggested Dr Wright could remain a priest if he gave up any relationship he might have had. On Friday, church authorities in Scotland said they had delayed releasing the full details of Dr Wright's resignation because they were unsure of whether Kevin Whibley was aware of his father's identity.