SCOTLAND
The Independent (UK)
Jerome Taylor
Thursday 21 March 2013
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, formerly Britain’s most senior Catholic cleric and a man renowned for railing against homosexuality, was in a “longstanding physical relationship” with one of the men whose recent allegations brought about his downfall, it has been claimed.
According to a report in The Herald newspaper, Cardinal O’Brien confessed to the relationship after it was recently revealed there had been several complaints to the Vatican about his sexual behaviour towards priests in the 1980s.
The paper claims that the length of the relationship explains why the 75-year-old Cardinal spoke of his time as a “priest, bishop and Cardinal” when he made his brief apology earlier this month admitting that his “sexual conduct” had fallen below the standards expected of him.
It is believed the man, who was due to speak to the newspaper before being advised otherwise by his bishop, currently lives outside Scotland.
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