# @pinknews on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DMQU8IcvSHu
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/32964603-pinknews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/18e50c0673.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-07-18T16:03:04.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** PinkNews (@pinknews) — https://gondola.cc/pinknews

## Caption

A Gay man has received a five-figure settlement from a Sheffield church after enduring an “exorcism” to rid him of homosexuality.

@MattDrapps was a volunteer at St Thomas Philadelphia church in Sheffield, in 2014. During this time, he was invited to an “Encounter God Weekend” at the “contemporary, welcoming church”.

According to an interview Matthew did with The Times, it was here that he was told “s3xual impurity” had allowed demons to enter his body and that an exorcism was to be performed to rid him of homosexuality.

During the exorcism, Matthew said he was told to “break agreements with Hollywood and the media” that led him into an ungodly lifestyle.

Looking back on it, Matthew remembers it being like “something out of a horror movie” and that the whole ordeal was “quite terrifying.”

After the exorcism, Matt said he was left feeling ‘so depressed and “empty” that he considered taking his own life.’

In 2016 he left the church, and then made a formal complaint about the exorcism, requesting an apology from St Thomas Philadelphia.

St Thomas initially claimed there was “no evidence to substantiate” his complaint, but Matthew pursued the issue with the Diocese of Sheffield who in 2021 commissioned Barnardo’s to investigate his allegations.

The review was published in 2023, saying it was a ‘supported fact’ that Matthew was subject to a prayer session which ‘was in our view a form of exorcism’ performed ‘with the intention of changing his s3xual identity.’

In response to the report, St Thomas Philadelphia said in a statement ‘We have accepted the outcomes of the first investigation and are saddened that 8 years ago one of our community was not cared for in the way we would have liked. We sincerely apologised to them for this.’

Matthew then made a legal claim against St Thomas Philadelphia which has now resulted in an out-of-court settlement and payment of a five-figure sum.

Matthew’s lawyer believes this to be the “first ever payment of damages in respect of harm caused by conversion or exorcism practices.”

St Thomas Philadelphia did not respond to our request for comment regarding the settlement.

#exorcism #gay #homosexuality #christianity #uknews

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## Tags

homosexuality, gay, christianity, exorcism, uknews

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