Priest arrested after drug-fueled night of gay sex kills male lover

A 60-year-old Anglican priest stationed in Kalmthout, Belgium was arrested after his male partner, a 69-year-old British priest named Andrew Wagstaff, died during a drug-fueled night of gay sex together.

The two men had used ecstasy and poppers while having sex together, police said, leading Wagstaff to feel unwell during the early morning hours of Friday, September 27. His sexual partner, identified in the media as Father Bernard, called the police after Wagstaff fell unconscious and couldn’t be resuscitated.

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While an autopsy has not yet been conducted to determine the priest’s exact cause of death, police arrested Bernard and charged him with drug trafficking resulting in death.

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“Traces of narcotics were found on the victim’s body,” said Kristof Aerts of the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office, according to The Daily Mail.

The men visited one another in anticipation of Pope Francis’ travel through Belgium. Anglicans consider the Pope as the Bishop of Rome and “father of the Church in the West” even though he is Catholic, a separate religious denomination. During the pope’s visit, the Catholic leader condemned clergy members who hide child abuse, urged world leaders to do more to combat climate change, and criticized the church’s subjugation of women.

A bishop will decide whether Father Bernard will be allowed to continue working in the church.

Another unnamed churchgoer told The Telegraph, “Priests often live a lonely existence. They often fall back on themselves and of course, they also have human needs. It is a disaster that he is being portrayed in such a bad light.”

Wagstaff was ordained 30 years ago and served as the chaplain of St. Boniface Church in Antwerp, Belgium until his retirement earlier this year, according to The Toronto Sun.

“[Father] Bernard is a dedicated priest. He did his job well, liked to mingle with people after church services and was greatly appreciated for that,” said Eddy Marstboom, the 84-year-old chairman of the local church council, according to The Telegraph. “But admittedly, all of this is also a complete surprise to us. We now mainly hope that the law will do its job quickly because I can well imagine that this is particularly difficult for him.”

In April, a Polish Catholic priest was sentenced to 18 months in prison after an investigation into an August 30, 2023, gay adult play party in the priest’s apartment. At the party, a male sex worker collapsed after overdosing on erectile dysfunction medication and was subsequently “mutilated.” The sex worker survived. 

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