UNITED KINGDOM
The Freethinker
BARRY DUKE, EDITOR
MANY thought that O’Brien, former head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, had crept off to some monastery, there to repent for his predatory sexual behaviour. But it’s just been revealed that the man who won a “Bigot of the Year” award for his vicious homophobia is living in a £208,750 bungalow – bought by Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh Leo Cushley – in a Northumberland village.
O’Brien, 76, refused this week to explain his situation, saying only:
I’m not speaking to anyone at the moment.
The disgraced churchman has been staying in the former pit village of Ellington, Northumberland, since January.
The house was purchased in the same month by Cushley – who succeeded O’Brien as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh – and two other leading churchmen in their capacity as trustees of the archdiocese.
O’Brien would not answer questions yesterday about why he was living on the other side of England from Cumbria, where he was understood to be undertaking a religious retreat.
When pressed on the house ownership, he replied:
You’ll need to check that with the diocese. I’m not talking about it, I’m not allowed to talk about it.
O’Brien was brought down after being accused of hypocrisy over his continual condemnation of homosexuality. He called it a “moral degradation” and described gay marriage as “harmful”.
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