VATICAN CITY/UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Vatican confirms priests’ written allegations against Cardinal Keith O’Brien have been received and issue is in pontiff’s hands
Severin Carrell, Catherine Deveney, John Hooper and Sam Jones
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 February 2013
The pope has been told about allegations that the UK’s most senior Catholic had been accused of “inappropriate acts” against fellow priests, and is considering how to respond.
Hours after the allegations were published by the Observer, the Vatican confirmed that written allegations against Cardinal Keith O’Brien by three serving priests and one former priest were being studied by Pope Benedict XVI.
As the pope gave his last pontifical blessing to crowds in St Peter’s Square, a spokesman for the Vatican said “the pope is informed about the problem and the issue is now in his hands”.
Cardinal O’Brien, the UK’s most senior Roman Catholic and head of the Scottish Catholic church, missed giving mass at his cathedral on Sunday, citing legal advice. He contests the allegations, which date back 30 years to the 1980s, when O’Brien was a rector of a seminary in Aberdeen and then archbishop.
The cardinal, who is himself to retire in mid-March after taking part in the conclave at the Vatican next month to choose the new pope, had been due to hold mass at St Mary’s cathedral in Edinburgh to celebrate Pope Benedict XVI’s eight years as pontiff.
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