Cardinal Keith O’Brien sorry for sexual misconduct

BBC News Scotland

03 March 2013

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the former leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, has admitted his sexual conduct has at times “fallen beneath the standards expected of me”.

He apologised and asked forgiveness from those he had “offended”.

In a statement, he also apologised to the Church and the people of Scotland.

The cardinal resigned last Monday after three priests and a former priest had made allegations of improper behaviour against him dating back to the 80s.

Cardinal O’Brien was Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric until he stood down as the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

Life in retirement

In announcing his resignation, he also said he would not take part in the election for a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, known as the conclave.

Sunday’s further statement, issued through the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, read: “In recent days, certain allegations which have been made against me have become public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me to contest them.

“However, I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal.

“To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness. To the Catholic Church and people of Scotland, I also apologise.

“I will now spend the rest of my life in retirement. I will play no further part in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland.”

The cardinal – who had initially said he was taking legal advice when the allegations against him were made public – had been due to retire later this month when he turned 75.

The former priest and three current priests from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh complained to the Pope’s representative to Britain, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, in early February about what they alleged had been inappropriate behaviour towards them in the 1980s.

Earlier on Sunday, the ex-priest told the Observer he had been disappointed by the “cold disapproval” he had faced from the Church for “daring to break ranks”.

He also claimed to have gone public only because he feared the matter was in danger of being swept under the carpet by the church.

The BBC’s correspondent in Rome, David Willey, said the news would no doubt affect the mood at the papal conclave at the Vatican.

He added: “The Rome gathering is already overshadowed by allegations of scandal, intrigue and betrayal among the Vatican hierarchy.

“The credibility of the Roman Catholic Church will be further damaged by Cardinal O’Brien’s confession of inappropriate sexual behaviour.”

‘Late-night drinking’

Last week, the Observer reported that the former priest had claimed Cardinal O’Brien had made an inappropriate approach to him in 1980, after night prayers, when he was a seminarian at St Andrew’s College, Drygrange.

A second statement from another complainant said he had been living in a parish when he was visited by Cardinal O’Brien, and inappropriate contact had taken place between them.

A third complainant alleged he had faced what he described as “unwanted behaviour” by the cardinal in the 1980s after some late-night drinking.

The fourth complainant claimed the cardinal had used night prayers as an excuse for inappropriate contact, the newspaper said.

Cardinal O’Brien, who was born in Ballycastle, Co Antrim, had been the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh since 1985.

He has been an outspoken opponent of plans to legalise same-sex marriage in Scotland and was named “bigot of the year” by gay rights charity Stonewall last year.

In an interview with BBC Scotland shortly before the allegations against him were made public, the cardinal said he believed priests should be able to marry and have children if they wished.

He said it was clear many priests struggled to cope with celibacy.

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Analysis

Some will find it a relief that the cardinal’s week-long silence has ended, and the issue of “sexual conduct” now at least has a name.

But, as Cardinal O’Brien’s statement is so conspicuously devoid of any detail, it seems to raise almost as many questions as it answers – particularly about the nature and timing of the occasions of that wrongdoing.

His admission that his “conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal” could be taken to confirm that his improper behaviour continued beyond the time of the initial allegations in the 1980s into the recent past.

Cardinal O’Brien is not in a position to say what sort of inquiry will now take place.

The cardinal has not been accused of anything illegal, so it will be an internal investigation and the results might not be made public.

It will be carried out by the Vatican under a new Pope, not by the Church in Scotland, and any punishment would depend on the circumstances of his improper sexual conduct.

Whatever else it tells us, the cardinal’s statement does sit uneasily with his years of outspoken denunciation of homosexual relationships.

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Cardinal O’Brien complainant ‘warned’ of risk of damage to Church

BBC News UK

03 March 2013

One of four men who made claims against Cardinal Keith O’Brien in the days before he resigned says he went public despite being warned he could damage the Catholic Church’s reputation.

The ex-priest told the Observerhe was disappointed by the “cold disapproval” he faced for “daring to break ranks”.

He said he had feared the matter was in danger of being swept under the carpet.

The men accused the Scottish Catholic Church leader of improper behaviour in the 1980s – allegations he contests.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien was Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric when he resigned last Monday as the Archbishop of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh and said he would not take part in the election for a successor to Pope Benedict.

The cardinal had been due to retire later this month when he turned 75.

The former priest and three current priests from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh complained to the Pope’s representative to Britain, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, in early February about what they alleged had been inappropriate behaviour towards them three decades ago.

In an interview with the Observer newspaper, the former priest accused the church of a lack of integrity in the way it responded to the allegations.

‘Crush me’

He said the four complainants had been asked to sign sworn statements to Archbishop Mennini.

But he said they had been warned that if their allegations were made public they would cause “immense further damage to the Church”.

“For me, this is about integrity,” he told the newspaper.

“There have been two sensations for me this week. One is feeling the hot breath of the media on the back of my neck and the other is sensing the cold disapproval of the church hierarchy for daring to break ranks. I feel like if they could crush me, they would.”

He said: “I thought it was best to let the men and women who put their hard-earned cash in the plate every Sunday know what has been happening. If you pay into something you have a right, but also a duty, to know what you are paying for.”

He added: “This isn’t about trying to own the moral high ground. I feel compassion for O’Brien, more compassion than the Church is showing me, but the truth has to be available – even when that truth is hard to swallow.”

‘Vow of celibacy’

Catherine Deveney, the journalist who first broke the story in last week’s Observer, told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Politics programme the former priest had been under “intense pressure” from the media and others who wanted to “out” him.

She added: “It is also worth noting that these people are not anonymous in that they have given signed and sworn statements to the Papal Nuncio exactly as they were asked to do by the church.

“It was only the church’s reaction to those complaints that made them fear they would not be dealt with properly, and it was at that point that they chose to go public.”

Ms Deveney said she was “very disappointed” by the way the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland had handled the claims.

She said she had emailed “very specific allegations from the four individuals concerned” to the church’s director of communications, Peter Kearney, the day before her original story was published.

She had also asked the direct question: “Is it true that the cardinal has broken his vow of celibacy?”

“You could not get a more specific allegation than that, and for the church to say that they didn’t know what he was being accused of was simply not true,” she said.

In a further article in the Observer on Sunday, Ms Deveney refuted “ridiculous accusations” that the men timed their allegations – which date back to the 1980s – to spoil the cardinal’s retirement and prevent him attending the conclave to elect a new Pope.

Timing can be as straightforward as “realising you are not the only one”, she wrote, adding one of the men told her the extent of the cardinal’s behaviour had “only became clear a few weeks ago”.

The church has so far made no comment on Ms Deveney’s latest allegations.

Last week, the Observer reported that the former priest had claimed Cardinal O’Brien made an inappropriate approach to him in 1980, after night prayers, when he was a seminarian at St Andrew’s College, Drygrange.

A second statement from another complainant said he had been living in a parish when he was visited by Cardinal O’Brien, and inappropriate contact had taken place between them.

A third complainant alleged he faced what he described as “unwanted behaviour” by the cardinal in the 1980s after some late-night drinking.

The fourth complainant claimed the cardinal used night prayers as an excuse for inappropriate contact, the newspaper said.

The cardinal is said to contest the allegations and is seeking legal advice.

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Cardinal Keith O’Brien: ‘Allow priests to marry’

BBC News Scotland

22 February 2013

Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic has said he believes priests should be able to marry if they wish to do so.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien said it was clear many priests struggled to cope with celibacy, and should be able to marry and have children.

The cardinal will be part of the conclave that chooses the next Pope.

He spoke of his surprise at the resignation of Benedict XVI, and said he was open to the new Pope coming from outside of Europe.

In an interview with BBC Scotland’s Glenn Campbell, the leader of the Roman Catholic church in Scotland, said some issues – for example abortion and euthanasia – were “basic dogmatic beliefs” of “divine origin” which the Church could never accept.

But Cardinal O’Brien, who is the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, said it would be within the scope of the new Pope to consider whether the Roman Catholic Church should change its stance on other issues, which were not of divine origin.

He explained: “For example the celibacy of the clergy, whether priests should marry – Jesus didn’t say that.

“There was a time when priests got married, and of course we know at the present time in some branches of the church – in some branches of the Catholic church – priests can get married, so that is obviously not of divine of origin and it could get discussed again.”

Cardinal O’Brien said he had never personally thought about whether he wanted to get married as he had been “too busy” with his duties.

But he added: “In my time there was no choice and you didn’t really consider it too much, it was part of being a priest. When I was a young boy, the priest didn’t get married and that was it.

“I would be very happy if others had the opportunity of considering whether or not they could or should get married.

“It is a free world and I realise that many priests have found it very difficult to cope with celibacy as they lived out their priesthood and felt the need of a companion, of a woman, to whom they could get married and raise a family of their own.”

Cardinal O’Brien will have a say in who succeeds Benedict XVI after he stands down on 28 February.

He said he believed it might be time for a younger pontiff from part of the developing world, where the Catholic faith is thriving.

Younger successor

“Well I would be open to a Pope from anywhere if I thought it was the right man, whether it was Europe or Asia or Africa or wherever”, he added.

“It is something which the cardinals have to think about seriously, having had Popes from Europe for such a long time now – hundreds of years – whether it isn’t time to think of the developing world as being a source of excellent men.

“And of course we do have excellent cardinals from other parts of the world as well – highly intelligent, well-trained, deeply spiritual men from other parts of the world.”

Benedict XVI was aged 78 when he was elected in 2005, making him one of the oldest new Popes in history.

And Cardinal O’Brien said a younger successor who was able to serve for a longer period of time may be able to “get more things done, to steady us up a wee bit and to give us something of the courage of the earlier apostles again”.

But he said he had not yet decided who should be elected as Pope during the conclave, which is expected to be held next month.

Cardinal O’Brien, 74, stood down from some frontline duties in the Catholic Church in Scotland last year due to his age.

He has been an outspoken opponent of Scottish government plans to legalise same-sex marriage and was controversially named “bigot of the year” by a gay rights charity last November.

Stonewall said he was given the title because he went “well beyond what any normal person would call a decent level of public discourse” in the debate.

The Catholic Church criticised the charity’s award, saying it revealed “the depth of their intolerance” and a willingness to demean people who do not share their views.