UNITED KINGDOM
The New York Times
By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: February 24, 2013
LONDON — Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, has been accused of committing “inappropriate acts” in his relations with three priests and one former priest, the Observer newspaper reported Sunday. The accusations, which date back to the 1980s have been forwarded to the Vatican.
The newspaper said the four men had made their complaints to the pope’s representative in Britain, Antonio Mennini, and that the complaints had reached Archbishop Mennini in the week before Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation on Feb. 11.
The timing of the Observer’s article, which was apparently drawn from church sources with access to the file that Archbishop Mennini had forwarded to Rome, became an immediate focus of attention.
Reports from Rome in recent days have described the feverish speculation — and intrigue, according to Vatican insiders — surrounding the choice of the new pope, who is set to be chosen by a conclave of 117 eligible cardinals, among them Cardinal O’Brien, scheduled to convene at the Vatican sometime in March. Benedict’s resignation takes effect Thursday.
The Catholic Church has been besieged during Benedict’s eight years in office by scandals over pedophilia and other forms of sexual abuse by priests. But the three weeks since he announced his decision to retire on the grounds of failing health have been marked by a surge of Italian news media reports, many of them speculative, of gay sex scandals in the Vatican and other allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
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