VATICAN CITY (AP) — A disgraced Scottish prelate who admitted to sexual misdeeds has resigned from his cardinal’s post.
The Vatican said Friday Pope Francis accepted 77-year-old Keith O’Brien’s resignation from “the rights and privileges of a cardinal.”
In 2013, O’Brien resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and recused himself from the conclave of cardinals that elected Francis as pontiff two years ago.
Once Britain’s highest-ranking Catholic leader, O’Brien left the archbishop’s post after unidentified priests alleged in newspaper reports he acted inappropriately toward them. O’Brien eventually said his sexual conduct had “fallen below the standards” expected of a priest and apologized.
Although O’Brien stepped down from the archbishop’s post, he remained a cardinal until the latest resignation, following what the Vatican said was a “long period of prayer.”
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less