SCOTLAND
The Guardian
Lizzy Davies in Rome
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 May 2013
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the disgraced former archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, will leave Scotland for a period of “spiritual renewal, prayer and penance” after he admitted inappropriate sexual conduct with priests, the Vatican has said.
In a statement, the Vatican said the 75-year-old cardinal would be leaving the country for several months, without specifying where he would go.
“His eminence cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien, archbishop emeritus of St Andrews and Edinburgh, for the same reasons he decided not to participate in the last conclave, and in agreement with the Holy Father, will be leaving Scotland for several months for the purpose of spiritual renewal, prayer and penance,” it said.
Indicating that O’Brien’s long-term future would remain firmly in the Vatican’s hands, the statement added: “Any decision regarding future arrangements for His Eminence shall be agreed with the Holy See.”
Reports earlier this month claimed that O’Brien, who stepped down as head of the Scottish Catholic church in February after the Observer disclosed allegations against him by three priests and one former priest, had been advised by Rome against moving to a house in Dunbar, East Lothian.
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