Cardinal Keith O'brien "Had Long-term Affair with Priest Who Complained"

By Severin Carrel
The Guardian
March 22, 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/22/keith-obrien-priest-catholic

Cardinal O'Brien was leader of Scotland's Catholics. Photograph: Murdo Macleod

Cardinal Keith O'Brien had a long-term physical relationship with one of the priests whose complaints against him led to his sacking as Scotland's most senior Roman Catholic, church sources claim.

Officials in the Scottish Catholic church claim that the priest, who is alleged to be the first man to complain to the Vatican about O'Brien, left the priesthood in the mid-2000s but has since returned to the church. These officials have told the Herald they believe that the man complained to the Vatican last winter in revenge for O'Brien's outspoken attacks on homosexuality and gay marriage, just as his career was coming to an end. He described homosexuality as a "moral degradation" and gay marriage as "harmful".

Immediately after the priest, who had known O'Brien for decades, submitted his accusations to the Vatican in late 2012, the cardinal was summoned to Rome and in effect sacked. O'Brien, the then archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh who was regarded as the de facto leader of Scotland's 750,000 Catholics, was told privately by Vatican officials that he would be expected to retire on his 75th birthday, which fell on 17 March.

However, O'Brien was forced to resign suddenly and publicly in late February by the then pope, Benedict XVI, two days after the Observer disclosed that four men, including three serving priests, had made formal, written complaints about inappropriate sexual conduct by O'Brien to the papal nuncio, the Pope's representative in the UK.

The cardinal appeared to admit that he had been sexually active throughout his time in the church, stating in early March that "there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal".

The priest said to have had a long-term affair with O'Brien has not yet spoken publicly or confirmed this version of events. But in what appears to be a damage limitation exercise by Catholic officials, church sources said that he is now living in a church post on the continent, thanks to O'Brien's help and patronage.

The men had known each other for more than 30 years, and been in a long-standing relationship. He had continued to be in close contact with the cardinal, they claimed, phoning and visiting his former official residence in Edinburgh, before turning against him last year.

The Herald quoted one church source saying: "These guys, we now know, were part of an inner circle. In the 30 years since these allegations took place there's been ample time to complain. The cardinal has had a huge profile for the past decade. But the door wasn't just shut on them, it was bolted in the past 18 months.

"I believe they wanted to silence O'Brien – as he's about to do another conclave, and make a huge deal of it. As he's retiring, a decision's been taken to go public and take him down."