Disgraced Cardinal Keith O'brien Blocked Probe into Sex Abuse with Catholic Church in Scotland

Daily Mail
August 23, 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2400765/Disgraced-Cardinal-Keith-OBrien-blocked-probe-sex-abuse-Catholic-Church-Scotland.html

Disgraced Cardinal Keith O'Brien refused to allow his archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh to participate

Shamed Cardinal Keith O’Brien personally blocked an inquiry into sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Scotland less than a year ago.

The probe had been agreed by the most senior members of the Church hierarchy.

It would have examined all abuse cases on file on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.

The hierarchy planned to publish the results of the investigation, but the then president of the Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal O’Brien, who resigned earlier this year after admitting sexual misconduct, objected.

He refused to allow his archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh to participate, forcing the project to be scrapped.

The disclosure has been confirmed by the recently retired Archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti.

He said: ‘It was the intention of all but one member of the Bishops’ Conference to commission an independent examination of the historical cases we had on file in all of our respective dioceses and publish the result.

‘This was delayed by the objection of the then president of the conference. Without full participation of all the dioceses, the exercise would have been faulty.’

But now the inquiry is expected to be reopened, according to Archbishop Emeritus Conti.

In a letter to Catholic newspaper The Tablet, which has been critical of the way the Church in Scotland has dealt with caring for the victims of sexual abuse, he said: ‘I understand that, in the light of the criticisms the Church has been facing, these audits will now be published.

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‘I think they will go some way towards confirming that the percentage of priests involved in abuse is tiny, and demonstrating the seriousness and competence with which the Church in Scotland has been dealing with safeguarding in all its implications for many years.’

The letter is an unprecedented break with tradition, which dictates that discussions at the Bishops’ Conference remain confidential.

A source said: ‘This clearly shows the full extent of the malignant influence that Cardinal O’Brien had on the Church up until a few months before he was exposed.

Archbishop Mario Conti revealed it was O'Brien who blocked the probe

‘What we are now seeing is a remarkable and candid revelation about the inner workings of the hierarchy which are normally never revealed.

‘There are those who have defended the Cardinal over what they try to characterise as drunken fumblings dating back decades.

‘That is very remote from the truth. By his own admissions, his misconduct continued while he held the highest office.’

Another source said: ‘Given what we now know, some people are likely to speculate about why he blocked the investigation. Who knows what his successor might find?

‘He has done enormous damage to the Church. Those left behind are still continuing to deal with the fall-out.

‘There was a will and a willingness among the bishops to dig into the past and be as transparent as possible, but that was stopped by the Cardinal. Now the way is open to make progress and continue the independent analysis originally planned.’

Earlier this week, Cardinal O’Brien received a major snub when his successor at St Andrews and Edinburgh, Monsignor Leo Cushley, disclosed that he would not be among the three bishops who will act as consecrators at his installation next month. It is customary for the outgoing archbishop to be chosen.

A source said: ‘This shows the depth of feeling against the Cardinal.’

The Catholic Church of Scotland office has been contacted by the Mail Online.