Cardinal Keith O’Brien, disgraced Catholic church leader, dies

SCOTLAND
The Guardian

March 19, 2018

By Severin Carrell

O’Brien, who died aged 80, was accused of sexual misconduct by three priests and a former priest

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the disgraced former head of the Roman Catholic church in Scotland, has died, aged 80, in hospital after being injured in a recent fall.

O’Brien was forced to resign as archbishop of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh in February 2013, after serious allegations of sexual misconduct emerged following an investigation by the Observer.

The most senior Catholic figure in the UK at the time, O’Brien was accused by three priests and a former priest of improper sexual conduct in relation to a series of incidents in the 1980s.

After rising to become one of Scotland’s most famous religious figures, O’Brien left the country in disgrace – moving first to Ireland, then to Northumberland, before settling in Newcastle. He retained his title as cardinal despite his misconduct.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.