Vicar, 79, is dumped by his husband, 24 ( )
After buying £100,000 flat in Romania and giving it to him
A RETIRED vicar who married a Romanian male model more than 50 years his junior has been left homeless and broke.
The Rev Philip Clements, 79, split from Florin Marin, 24, days after giving him their apartment.
He met the toyboy on a dating site and sold his home in Sandwich, Kent, to buy the flat 1,500 miles away in Romania.
Just days after Mr Clements handed over the keys to the property in Bucharest, the pair had an argument and separated.
Mr Clements returned to the UK empty handed and now has to rely on friends for a roof over his head.
He and Mr Marin went against Church of England rules that bar clergymen from same-sex marriage. They wed in a low-key ceremony at Ramsgate Register Office in April after two years together.
Mr Clements sold his house for £214,000 and the pair moved to Bucharest, where he used the proceeds to buy a flat for nearly £100,000. But he became isolated in Romania, where he had no friends and did not speak the language.
The couple fell out over Mr Marin’s late-night partying, which he told his husband ‘was not for old people’. Mr Clements said: ‘We went off in April and we had a great time. We used to go out to the cinema and shopping. He makes me laugh. We’d laugh a lot.
‘I came over to England for some medical appointments for a fortnight in late August. When I returned, we had a disagreement.
‘I thought he was unreasonable. I take some responsibility for it too but I decided there wasn’t a future. I was very lonely, not knowing the language or having any friends. Florin would spend a lot of time going out. ‘He used to go to bed very late, sometimes 5am, having been out nightclubbing or watching films. ‘He said I wasn’t allowed to go clubbing. In my heart I didn’t accept it but I trusted him.’ To the relief of friends in Britain who begged him to come home, Mr Clements returned three months ago. Although he had bought the flat in Bucharest in his own name, he signed it over to Mr Marin days before their split. ‘When things were going well, I wanted him to have security when I die,’ Mr Clements said. ‘He appreciated me doing it but I didn’t know we were going to break up so soon. I left very sad... with a very heavy heart. He came with me to the airport.
‘I’ve lost everything really. I’ve lost my house and was in a poor state. I stayed with friends on alternate weeks until I was given a granny flat attached to one of my friend’s houses.
‘It was my suggestion to go to Romania and Florin liked the idea but I think we would have been better off if we’d stayed at my house in Kent. I wouldn’t have been so isolated and he would have had things to do.’
The former parish priest said he had repressed his sexuality throughout his career because of the Church’s stance on homosexuality but is now able to be his ‘true-self’. He was attracted to Mr Marin’s ‘looks and flamboyancy’.
Since he returned to the UK, matters have improved and Mr Marin has even visited England for a couple of days.
‘Florin started to contact me again. I hadn’t lost my feelings for him so I reciprocated,’ Mr Clements said. ‘We started texting and speaking on video and we’re still in touch now.
‘I don’t want a divorce and he says he doesn’t want anybody else. I’ve asked him to tell me if he finds somebody else, and I would understand.’