UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The BBC has been told Cardinal Keith O’Brien is “very upset” over the circumstances of his resignation.

A source within the Catholic Church also said the cardinal “doesn’t know who his accusers are and doesn’t know what they’re accusing him of”.

The ex-Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh has been accused of inappropriate behaviour towards priests in the 1980s – allegations he contests.

Cardinal O’Brien will no longer take part in the election of the new Pope.

The source also said Cardinal O’Brien, Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, was “a vulnerable adult” approaching the age of 75, the age at which he was due to retire from his position.