Rome confronted O’Brien with allegations months ago

SCOTLAND
The Tablet

8 March 2013

Cardinal Keith O’Brien was summoned to Rome as early as October 2012 to answer charges of sexual impropriety. It was previously thought that allegations of misconduct had not emerged until February 23, when a story was published in the Observer describing unwanted sexual advances allegedly made by the cardinal against three serving priests and a then-seminarian in the 1980s.

However, The Tablet can report that after a priest lodged an allegation with the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal O’Brien was asked to travel to Rome to answer the accusation.

The disclosure of the earlier complaint about Cardinal O’Brien’s sexual conduct also casts a new light on the acceptance of his resignation last November.

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