SCOTLAND
Scotsman
By SHÂN ROSS
Published on 05/05/20
CARDINAL Keith O’Brien has been told to leave the UK amid fears that his continuing presence could lead to further criticism of the Catholic Church in Scotland.
Friends of the cardinal, still Scotland’s most senior Catholic, have been reported as saying officials in Rome have told him to abandon his plans to retire to a small church-owned property in Dunbar, East Lothian.
It is understood the cleric was contacted on Friday afternoon, days after he was photographed carrying cardboard boxes of his belongings from his official residence in Edinburgh.
The former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, aged 75, had been forced by Pope Benedict XVI to retire after admitting “inappropriate behaviour” with four priests and a seminarian.
Philip Tartaglia, Archbishop of Glasgow, acting as president of the Bishop’s Conference of Scotland, was behind an appeal to the Vatican. He wrote to the Papal Nuncio in London informing him of the cardinal’s return and the subsequent publicity.
A source close to the cardinal said: “The cardinal has been advised not to relocate to the parish in Dunbar and has been told he should leave the country. That’s extremely disappointing and not a Christian way to treat someone. There’s clearly pressure from within and outwith the Church and no show of unity.
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