SCOTLAND
The Observer
Catherine Deveney
The Observer, Saturday 23 March 2013
The four men at the centre of the scandal that led to the resignation of Britain’s leading Catholic cleric have dismissed suggestions that they were part of a “gay cabal” seeking “revenge” for his publicly anti-gay stance.
Speaking about Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s resignation last month over claims of inappropriate behaviour towards several priests, the four rejected reports quoting church sources who claimed the cardinal had been forced to quit by gay priests angry at his hypocrisy about same-sex marriages.
“This isn’t about people being gay. It’s about abuse of power,” said “Father Peter”, who admitted in the Observer report which broke the story that he had been involved in an inappropriate relationship with the cardinal that led to him needing counselling. “The emotional and psychological power Keith O’Brien had over me was incredible. He was utterly manipulative.”
“Lenny”, a former priest who described how he had rebuffed the cardinal’s advances while he was a seminarian, said the newspapers were forcing parts of the jigsaw puzzle together that didn’t fit : “I was surprised at the suggestion that I was part of a gay cabal. And my partner of 26 years? I’d say she was quite surprised too.”
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