A former principal of Robert Gordon University (RGU) has apologised after he was accused of being a “Twitter troll” for insulting a former MP and an international footballer.
Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, who is a trainee priest with the Scottish Episcopal Church, resigned from his position at the university in 2018 following controversy over his business interests.
The 69-year-old had previously chaired a Scottish Government review of higher education governance and is seeking to become an Anglican priest.
However, Prof von Prondzynski has now been accused of using “unchristian language” on social media and displaying “remarkable lack of judgement”.
The heated row started to unfold last year after former Southampton and England footballer Matt Le Tissier tweeted about visiting B&Q without wearing a mask or using hand sanitiser.
Prof von Prondzynski responded to Mr Le Tissier’s post with “That’s a lot of words to say you’re a bit of a tosser.”
When George Galloway’s Workers’ Party came third in the Batley and Spen by-election last May he tweeted: “Made my day. The man is a piece of s***.”
He also called an anti-mask activist “an imbecile”, described a proponent of an unproven Covid treatment as “seriously deranged”, and wrote: “Seriously, anti-vaxxers are truly harming the gene pool.”
Speaking to the Times, one senior member of the Scottish Episcopal Church said his behaviour was an inappropriate for a person representing the church.
He said: “Ferdinand needs to decide whether he wants to be a Twitter troll or a priest. He cannot be both. You simply cannot use that kind of language when you are representing the church.”
‘Sorry for inappropriate comments’
Prof von Prondzynski stepped down as a principal of RGU after an investigation found he did not declare a business link with fellow professor Gordon McConnell, while recruiting him as vice-principal for commercial and regional innovation.
Prof McConnell and Prof von Prondzynski were co-directors of a firm which owned a £12million Irish castle.
The probe discovered they had breached RGU’s conflict of interest policy, but ruled it was a “genuine omission or oversight” and neither would face sanction.
Until recently Prof von Prondzynski served as the church’s diocesan secretary in the north-east and was an outspoken supporter of Anne Dyer, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney.
Prof von Prondzynski told the Times: “Comments I made last year during social media debate were inappropriate. I regret the language used and apologise for any offence caused.”
The Scottish Episcopal Church told the paper that the ordinand’s views were personal and “do not represent those of the church”.
