UNITED KINGDOM
Irish Central
Vatican invited Cardinal Keith O’Brien to conclave despite knowledge of sexual allegations by Catholic priests
by Cahir O’Doherty
When news broke this week that Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, had been accused by four priests of sexual exploitation both his critics and supporters were instantly suspicious of the timing.
Why now, they asked? Pope Benedict’s dramatic resignation was barely a week old and the papal conclave was already looming. How could accusations this damning have come to light just at this moment (especially considering O’Brien had Britain’s only vote for Pope)? It was an a reasonable question.
The answer, which came yesterday, probably isn’t going to satisfy the conspiracy theorists, but it’s a fairly convincing one. In a desperate attempt to minimize the impact, the pope moved quickly to stem the crisis before it could snowball.
That led to O’Brien standing down as archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh the day after the Observer newspaper published accusations about his conduct during the 1980’s.
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