By Martin Hannan
Scotsman
April 4, 2010
http://news.scotsman.com/news/Victim-of-sex-crime-.6202637.jp
SCOTLAND -- A SCOT sexually abused by a Catholic clergyman has accused Cardinal Keith O'Brien of "rank hypocrisy" over his apology to victims today and has called on him to resign.
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• Cardinal Keith O'Brien. Picture: TSPL
Michael X – who has kept his anonymity following a court case – was abused by Fr Desmond Lynagh while studying at the Catholic seminary Blair College in the 1970s.
Now in his forties, he claims that the Cardinal – who will speak of the Church's "shame" over abuse during his Easter Sunday message today – failed to act properly over his own case by not reporting the abuse to the police.
Cardinal O'Brien will say today that cases where Catholics knew of sexual abuse crimes but did not report them bring "shame on us all".
But, speaking for the first time since the content of Cardinal O'Brien's message emerged last week, Michael X said: "The Cardinal is saying that 'any Catholics who were aware of such crimes and did not act to report them, bring shame on us all'.
"Well, as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh at the time, he knew what happened to me for years," he claimed. "He only acted to take Lynagh out of pastoral work. Three years later I saw Lynagh had been appointed director of a retreat centre.
"That's when I had to report the crimes to the police to protect other youngsters, at great emotional cost to myself. The Cardinal is guilty of rank hypocrisy and his last act as a Cardinal before his resignation should be to commission a truth and reconciliation process for Scotland."
Michael X was paid £42,000 compensation by the then Archbishop O'Brien, who has since acknowledged the truth of his claims of abuse. The man was abused by Fr Lynagh as a 15-year-old pupil at Blairs College near Aberdeen.
Fr Lynagh, who pled guilty to the crimes, was jailed for three years in 1995. Michael X said that when he took the payment from the Cardinal he was told that it was "up to him" if he wanted to go to the police.
He said: "I have tried to rebuild my life, and not just be a victim or a mad zealot campaigning against this abuse. But the Cardinal's so-called apology disgusted me so much that, in all conscience, I felt I had to speak out."
The Cardinal will today tell the congregation at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh: "Many evils have been committed throughout the world, particularly with regard to the sexual abuse of children and young people. The past weeks and months have not been easy for any of us – and I share with you the shame of many others in our Church."
The abuse scandal has spread throughout Europe and North America, and includes allegations that Pope Benedict hid evidence of abuse by Catholic clergy.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Canterbury last night said he "had no intention of criticising or attacking" the Catholic Church after an interview in which he said the Church in Ireland had lost all credibility over the child abuse scandal.
A spokeswoman for Dr Rowan Williams confirmed he phoned Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to express his "deep sorrow and regret for difficulties which may have been created" by his remarks. She said: "The Archbishop had no intention of criticising or attacking the Catholic Church as a whole. The Church in Ireland continues to work tirelessly to deal with the scandal of abuse."
Archbishop Martin, who said he had been stunned by the remark, confirmed Dr Williams rang him to apologise.
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