Scottish cardinal to atone for sexual misconduct

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Scottish cardinal who resigned as archbishop after admitting to sexual misconduct will leave Scotland for several months of prayer and atonement, the Vatican said Wednesday in a rare sign of accountability for a "prince of the church."

Cardinal Keith O'Brien recused himself from the March conclave that elected Francis as the new pope after a newspaper reported unnamed priests' allegations that he acted inappropriately toward them. There have been no indications that the priests were minors at the time.

O'Brien subsequently acknowledged he had engaged in unspecified sexual misbehavior. He resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, apologized and promised to stay out of the church's public life.

On Wednesday, the Vatican said O'Brien, once Britain's highest-ranking Catholic leader, would leave Scotland for several months of "prayer, penance and spiritual renewal" for the same reasons he decided not to participate in the conclave.

The statement didn't say if the arrangements were imposed on O'Brien by the Vatican as a punishment, or if he had volunteered for them. The Vatican said merely that his departure came "in agreement with the Holy Father." The Vatican spokesman declined to provide further explanation and the spokesman for the Scottish church didn't respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

The distinction is significant because victims of clerical abuse have long denounced the lack of accountability among the church hierarchy for having covered up the crimes of pedophile priests: In the church, bishops, and even more so cardinals, often seem virtually untouchable.

Even though O'Brien is not accused of abusing minors, his case has been watched to see if Pope Francis would take any action against a member of the church elite. The Vatican, for example, has refused to even confirm whether it was investigating the allegations against O'Brien.

O'Brien initially rejected the claims, saying he was resigning because he did not want to distract from the conclave. In staying home, O'Brien became the first cardinal ever to recuse himself from a conclave because of personal scandal.

He eventually issued a statement admitting that there had been times "that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal."

It wasn't clear what would happen to O'Brien after his months of prayer. The Vatican statement said merely that a decision would be "agreed with the Holy See."

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Gay group calls for apology from Scottish cardinal

LONDON (AP) — A Scottish cardinal who stepped down from church leadership after admitting sexual misconduct should apologize to gay people for his years of "vicious and cruel language" about them, Britain's leading gay-rights group said Monday.

Officials in the Vatican refused to say whether they would formally investigate allegations against Cardinal Keith O'Brien. He resigned last week as Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric after being accused of inappropriate behavior by three priests and a former priest.

Until his abrupt resignation as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, O'Brien had been due to join cardinals from around the world in Rome for a conclave that will elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

The cardinals met Monday, without O'Brien, for the first of their pre-conclave meetings.

O'Brien has not directly addressed the allegations against him, which include "an inappropriate approach" to a seminarian after night prayers and "inappropriate contact" with another priest.

But he said Sunday that "my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal."

"To those I have offended, I apologize and ask forgiveness," he said.

Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill said Monday that the gay-rights group noted "with sadness that the cardinal didn't find it in him to apologize to gay people, their families and friends for the harm his vicious and cruel language caused."

The Scottish Catholic Media Office said the complaints against O'Brien had been reported to the Vatican, and it expected there would be an investigation.

The Vatican refused to confirm or deny Monday whether it was investigating O'Brien, and declined to say when it learned of the allegations against him. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, repeated his statement from last week, which was that the original four accusers had sent their complaint via the papal ambassador to Britain, and the pope had been informed.

Pressed to respond to reports of a purported fifth accuser, who reportedly approached the Vatican directly in October with accusations, another spokesman, the Rev. Thomas Rosica, read O'Brien's statement and said the Vatican would say no more.

O'Brien, 74, had been a staunch advocate of church teaching against homosexuality, calling same-sex marriage "a grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right" and saying that British government plans to legalize same-sex marriage would "shame the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world."

Last year, Stonewall named O'Brien "Bigot of the Year" for his hard line on homosexuality.

Despite his views on same-sex relationships, O'Brien was long known for his relatively liberal stance on some social issues.

Shortly after he was named cardinal in 2003, O'Brien made an unusual public pledge to defend Roman Catholic Church teaching, having previously suggested there should be more open discussion on issues such as the requirement of celibacy for priests and the church's ban on contraception.

The cardinal largely kept those views to himself over the next decade, although he reiterated them in an interview with the BBC just before the allegations against him emerged. O'Brien told the broadcaster that he was open to priests marrying and having children.

"The celibacy of the clergy, whether priests should marry — Jesus didn't say that," he said in the interview last month. "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."

Another British cardinal, Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, said Monday that the claims against O'Brien weren't necessarily evidence that the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church — which has been wracked by scandals over sexual abuse by priests — was in need of deep reform.

"There's always been sinners in the church but there's always been saints," he told BBC radio from Rome.

Murphy-O'Connor — who, at 80, is too old to vote in the conclave — said that while sometimes wrongdoing was the responsibility of the church, "sometimes it is just the weakness of individuals and the wrong that they do."

"To say that this is all in the church, I just don't think it is true," he said.

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Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

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Accused Scottish cardinal admits sexual failings

LONDON (AP) — The cardinal who until recently served as Britain's highest-ranking Catholic leader has admitted to unspecified sexual misbehavior and promised to play "no further part" in the public life of the church.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigned Monday from his position as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh after a newspaper published accounts alleging that priests had accused him of misconduct.

O'Brien initially rejected the claims, saying he was resigning because he did not want to distract from the upcoming conclave which is due to pick a new pope.

But on Sunday the Church of Scotland issued a statement quoting O'Brien as saying that there had been times "that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal."

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