SCOTLAND
Evening Times
Two years after he stood down as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh after admitting sexual relationships dating back decades, Pope Francis has ordered the Cardinal no longer perform any public, religious or civil duties associated with the title.
The unprecedented move will be seen as a humiliation of the former leading cleric and will prevent him taking any future role in the selection of any new Pope.
The move has been welcomed by the Catholic Church in Scotland however, he will be allowed to retain in his Red Hat and is expected to stay in his temporary residence in north east England.
The sanction confirms the Vatican has now formally accepted the claims of the four priests who claimed Cardinal O’Brien’s had been guilty of inappropriate sexual conduct with them.
A further seminarian also launched a civil action against the church claiming Cardinal O’Brien had made sexual contact with him in the late 1970s.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.