SCOTLAND
Telegraph
Damian Thompson
Gerry Braiden of the Glasgow Herald is reporting today that Cardinal Keith O’Brien, former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, has been ordered to leave Britain by the Vatican following his admission that he made sexual advances to priests during his time as Primate of Scotland. It’s a terrible end to the career of a flawed but likeable man who, clearly, should never have accepted a cardinal’s hat in the first place. Writes Braiden:
Friends of the cleric have said he has been told by Rome to shelve his plans to retire to a church-owned cottage in East Lothian and instead leave the country.
The Herald understands Cardinal O’Brien was given the news yesterday afternoon, three days after being photographed moving his personal belongings from his official residence in Edinburgh to the residence in Dunbar where he had been spending regular weekends over the past few years.
The parish priest in Dunbar, Canon John Creanor, is understood to have voiced upset at the Vatican’s move against his “dear friend”.
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