UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Severin Carrell and Catherine Deveney
The Guardian, Sunday 24 February 2013
The four complaints against Cardinal Keith O’Brien alleging “inappropriate acts” were given to the pope’s representative in the UK, Antonio Mennini, in early February.
They arrived at the papal nuncio’s London office, delivered by a trusted intermediary from the cardinal’s diocese, a few days before Pope Benedict XVI stunned the Catholic world with his decision to resign.
The earliest of the allegations, which are denied by O’Brien, dates back to 1980. That complainant, who is now married, was then a 20-year-old seminarian at St Andrew’s College, Drygrange, where O’Brien was the rector and his “spiritual director”. The statement claims he made an inappropriate approach after night prayers.
The complainant said he was too frightened to report the incident, and became depressed. He was ordained, but told Mennini he resigned when O’Brien was promoted to bishop in the mid-1980s.
“I knew then he would always have power over me,” he alleges. “It was assumed I left the priesthood to get married. I did not. I left to preserve my integrity.”
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