VATICAN CITY
International Business Times
By Vittorio Hernandez | February 26, 2013
Just days before his official retirement on Feb 28, Pope Benedict XVI made a controversial decision on Monday by forcing Scottish Cardinal, Keith O’Brien to quit his post.
The decision to pressure the head of the Scottish Catholic Church to step down over allegations of improper behavior by Cardinal O’Brien toward priests is contrary to previous reports that the cardinal resigned on his own.
The cardinal is the most serious among the 100 plus cardinals who are arriving in Vatican City to vote for the next pope in a conclave to be held inside the Sistine Chapel. His participation in the selection process was supposed to be one of his last acts as head of the Scottish Catholic Church since he is due for retirement in the next 4 weeks when he reaches 75.
Three current priests and an ex-priests claimed that the cardinal committed inappropriate acts on them during the 1980s and the publication by the Observer of the charge added to the growing list of sex scandals involving the clergy and prompted the pope’s decision.
After quitting as archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Cardinal O’Brien issued a statement apologizing for any failures to those whom he offended. He canceled his trip to Vatican, which dashes any hope of him supporting a papabili who would be more friendlier to the idea of a growing proposal to remove the marriage ban on priests.
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