Msgr O'brien Stripped As Cardinal for Sex Abuse - Update 2

Gazzetta del Sud
March 20, 2015

http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/133984/Msgr-O-Brien-stripped-as-cardinal-for-sex-abuse---update-2.html


Vatican City, March 20 - Pope Francis on Friday accepted a disgraced Scottish prelate's resignation from cardinal status because of sex scandals. Msgr Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien, archbishop emeritus of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, had been accused by some priests of "inappropriate behaviour" and sex abuse. O'Brien, who stepped down from Saint Andrews in 2013, remains a priest and bishop, and retains the title of cardinal, but will have no more public duties and will be excluded from future conclaves to vote on the next pope, according to the Vatican. In a statement, the Vatican said the pope sent "to all the faithful of the Church in Scotland his pastoral concern and encourages them to continue confidently on the path of renewal and reconciliation". O'Brien had been the Catholic Church's most senior cleric at the time of his resignation, BBC reported on its website. He had been forced to step down by retired pope Benedict XVI just days before the start of the conclave that went on to elect Pope Francis. O'Brien apologized at the time for falling "beneath the standards expected of me". He had recused himself from the conclave in 2013 after a former priest and three current priests from the diocese of Edinburgh and St Andrews came forward with allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards them in the 1980s. At the time of the conclave, the Vatican said the cardinal decided to travel away from Scotland for "a few months of spiritual renewal, prayer and penance" after he admitted to inappropriate sexual conduct with clergy.