SCOTLAND
BBC News
An honorary degree awarded to Cardinal Keith O’Brien by St Andrews University will not be revoked.
The former head of the Catholic Church in Scotland stepped down in disgrace two years ago after admitting sexual misconduct.
The university’s senate business committee dismissed a request from a member of staff who had called publicly for the degree to be rescinded.
Cardinal O’Brien was awarded a doctorate in Divinity in 2004.
The committee said it recognised that “universities awarded honorary degrees in good faith on the basis of evidence available to them at a point in time, that revocation cannot change or ameliorate the wrongs of the past and that, notwithstanding the very real hurt and loss caused by the actions of the honorand, it would be no more than an empty gesture”.
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.