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| Cardinal Keith O'Brien 'accused of inappropriate acts' | Cardinal Keith O'Brien 'accused of inappropriate acts' |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Britain's senior Roman Catholic cleric has been reported to the Vatican over historical allegations of inappropriate behaviour, a newspaper has said. | |
| href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/23/cardinal-keith-o-brien-accused-inappropriate" >The Observer said three priests and one former priest made the complaint against Cardinal Keith O'Brien, 74, leader of the Scottish Catholic Church. | |
| They have also demanded his immediate resignation, the paper said. | They have also demanded his immediate resignation, the paper said. |
| A statement from the Scottish Catholic Church said Cardinal O'Brien contested the claims and was taking legal advice. | A statement from the Scottish Catholic Church said Cardinal O'Brien contested the claims and was taking legal advice. |
| The Observer newspaper reported the cardinal was accused of behaving inappropriately towards priests and seminarians in his care. The allegations date back to the 1980s. | |
| The paper reported that the three priests and a former priest wrote to the Pope's representative to Britain, Antonio Mennini, giving details of what they claimed was the cardinal's inappropriate behaviour towards them. | |
| BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott says one of the four men claimed he resigned as a priest when Cardinal O'Brien was first made a bishop, in order to "preserve his own integrity". | |
| Pope vote | |
| Cardinal O'Brien, who was born in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, has been the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh since 1985. He is also the president of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland. | Cardinal O'Brien, who was born in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, has been the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh since 1985. He is also the president of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland. |
| He stood down from some front-line duties in the Catholic Church in Scotland last year due to his age. He is due to retire next month. | He stood down from some front-line duties in the Catholic Church in Scotland last year due to his age. He is due to retire next month. |
| Cardinal O'Brien has been an outspoken opponent of plans to legalise same-sex marriage and was named "bigot of the year" by gay rights charity Stonewall last November, prompting a storm of controversy. | |
| Before his retirement, the cardinal will have a say in who succeeds Pope Benedict XVI when the pontiff stands down on 28 February. Cardinal O'Brien is Britain's only representative in the election for a successor. | |
| In an interview with BBC Scotland, broadcast on Friday, he said he had not yet decided who should be elected as Pope during the conclave, which is expected to be held next month. | |
| The cardinal said he believed it might be time for a younger pontiff from part of the developing world, where the Catholic faith is thriving. | The cardinal said he believed it might be time for a younger pontiff from part of the developing world, where the Catholic faith is thriving. |
| He also said he believed priests should be able to marry and have children if they wished to do so. | He also said he believed priests should be able to marry and have children if they wished to do so. |