SCOTLAND
Telegraph
By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the disgraced former head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has formally “resigned” the role of Cardinal – but keeps his title.
Pope Francis has ordered the former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh – who stepped down two years ago after revelations that he made sexual advances to priests – to live a “strictly private life” of prayer and penance, banned from taking part in any future “public, religious or civil events”.
The Cardinal has been living in effective exile in England under arrangements agreed by the Vatican which bars him from setting foot in Scotland. His former archdiocese has bought a house in a quiet cul-de-sac in Northumberland for him to live out his exile.
In a short statement he said he was “deeply sorry” to his victims, remarking that his “sexual conduct” had “fallen below the standards expected”.
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