Olympic marathon priest vows to ignore Vatican defrocking

The Irish priest who disrupted the Olympic marathon last year has vowed to ignore the Vatican's decision to remove him from the priesthood.

Neil Horan, a native of Kerry who lives in London, sparked outrage last summer when he accosted the Brazilian athlete who was leading the Athens marathon.

He had previously run out in front of 200mph Formula One cars at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone to highlight his belief that the second coming of Jesus is nigh.

Horan had not carried out official church duties since 1994 and was formally defrocked by Pope John Paul II yesterday.

However, responding this morning, he said: "I told them I was refusing to accept their decree and, as far as I'm concerned, nothing has changed. I'm still a Catholic priest in the eyes of Jesus Christ."