VATICAN CITY
Wall Street Journal
By STACY MEICHTRY and BRUCE ORWALL
Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien resigned, saying he won’t attend the coming conclave of cardinals to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.
In a statement, Cardinal O’Brien said his resignation, tendered on Feb. 18, had been accepted by the pope.
The resignation comes close on the heels of a report in The Observer newspaper in the U.K. on Sunday, which detailed allegations of inappropriate behavior against Cardinal O’Brien that date back to the 1980s.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the pope “immediately” accepted Cardinal O’Brien’s resignation in order to address the an “unclear situation” before cardinals from around the world gather in Rome for the conclave.
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