UNITED KINGDOM
The New York Times
By ALAN COWELL and JOHN F. BURNS
Published: February 25, 2013
LONDON — A day after a newspaper accused him of committing “inappropriate acts” in his relations with three priests and one former priest, Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, said Monday that he had offered his resignation to the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI had accepted it.
But he made no specific, public comment on the account in The Observer newspaper on Sunday, which said accusations dating back to the 1980s had been forwarded to the Vatican.
Cardinal O’Brien said he had canceled plans to attend the deliberations at the Vatican over the selection of a new pope to replace Benedict, who stunned the Catholic world by announcing his own resignation on Feb. 11.
A statement issued by the media office of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland said Cardinal O’Brien had already told the pope some time ago of his intention to resign as his 75th birthday approached on March 17. But no date was set.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.