FALL FROM GRACE

By Ewan Mowat
Scottish Sun
July 12, 2020

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/5802280/cardinal-keith-obrien-sex-abuse-scandal-found-peace/

Disgraced Scots Cardinal Keith O'Brien 'found peace' before his death

DISGRACED Cardinal Keith O'Brien "found peace" before his death, according to a former bishop.

Scotland's top Catholic clergyman resigned in 2013 following an alleged sex abuse scandal amid claims he preyed on rookie priests.

But Richard Holloway, a former bishop of Edinburgh, has revealed O'Brien told him he "felt forgiven" in a "sweet correspondence" before his death in 2018, aged 80.

Holloway, who was primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church between 1992 and 2000, told The Times: “I think he had reconciled himself.

"I sent him an affectionate letter saying I hoped he was doing well and he wrote back to say that he had learnt some lessons and he was at peace with himself where he was.

“He felt forgiven and understood and had reconciled to all the things that had happened. He was quite rueful.”

Holloway admits he was "disappointed" in his old friend for publicly opposing gay adoption and same-sex marriage, and branding homosexuality a "moral degradation" once he became a cardinal in 2003.

He said: “I had always been pally with him.

"Though when he got the red hat I was very disappointed when he came back and denied his own nature by becoming homophobic.”

O'Brien's fall from grace in 2013 when three priests and a former churchman alleged improper behaviour by him dating back to the 1980s, including inappropriate contact.