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Pope considering response to alleged 'inappropriate acts' by UK cardinal Pope considering response to alleged 'inappropriate acts' by UK cardinal
(about 9 hours later)
The pope has been told about allegations that the UK's most senior Catholic had been accused of "inappropriate acts" against fellow priests, and is considering how to respond. Pope Benedict XVI is considering how to respond after being told about allegations that the UK's most senior Catholic has been accused of "inappropriate acts" against fellow priests.
Hours after the allegations were published by the Observer, the Vatican confirmed that written allegations against Cardinal Keith O'Brien by three serving priests and one former priest were being studied by Pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican confirmed the pope had seen allegations made by priests against Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the head of the Scottish Catholic church, by three serving priests and a former priest in his diocese which date back to 1980.
As the pope gave his last pontifical blessing to crowds in St Peter's Square, a spokesman for the Vatican said "the pope is informed about the problem and the issue is now in his hands". The claims – which are denied by the cardinal and remain unproven – add to a series of controversies over senior figures in the church and within the Vatican that will overshadow Benedict's final days as pontiff and the first weeks of his successor.
Cardinal O'Brien, the UK's most senior Roman Catholic and head of the Scottish Catholic church, missed giving mass at his cathedral on Sunday, citing legal advice. He contests the allegations, which date back 30 years to the 1980s, when O'Brien was a rector of a seminary in Aberdeen and then archbishop. As the pope gave his last pontifical blessing to crowds in St Peter's Square on Sunday morning before stepping down this Thursday, his spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said: "The pope is informed about the problem and the issue is now in his hands." O'Brien, who is also due to retire on his 75th birthday next month, is the only Catholic in the UK within the elite group of 117 cardinals eligible to vote on the pope's successor. It is not known whether he will attend the vote.
The cardinal, who is himself to retire in mid-March after taking part in the conclave at the Vatican next month to choose the new pope, had been due to hold mass at St Mary's cathedral in Edinburgh to celebrate Pope Benedict XVI's eight years as pontiff. The claims against O'Brien, reported in the Observer, surround allegations of "unwanted behaviour" following late-night drinking and "inappropriate contact" involving the three priests, who are all serving within the cardinal's diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, and a former priest who is now married.
The pope is due to stand down on 28 February, after becoming the first to resign in post for more than 600 years. One complainant alleges the cardinal and he developed an "inappropriate relationship" that led to him needing long-term psychological counselling.
Hours after the allegations were published, O'Brien decided not to give mass at his cathedral in Edinburgh on Sunday morning, where he had been due to celebrate Pope Benedict's eight years in office. He cited legal advice.
Bishop Stephen Robson, who is auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, the cardinal's diocese, told the congregation: "A number of allegations of inappropriate behaviour have been made against the cardinal. The cardinal has sought legal advice and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time. There will be further statements in due course.Bishop Stephen Robson, who is auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, the cardinal's diocese, told the congregation: "A number of allegations of inappropriate behaviour have been made against the cardinal. The cardinal has sought legal advice and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time. There will be further statements in due course.
"As always in times of need such as this we cannot not but be saddened by the events of the last 24 hours. It is to the Lord that we turn to now in times of need." "As always in times of need such as this we cannot but be saddened by the events of the last 24 hours. It is to the Lord that we turn now in times of need."
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the former archbishop of Westminster, who will be travelling to the Vatican to advise cardinals voting for the next pope, said he was "very sad" to hear about the allegations against the cardinal. O'Brien, who has already stood down as chair of the Scottish Catholic bishops' conference because of his age and health, has been a vigorous and outspoken critic of gay rights, denouncing plans for the legalisation of gay marriage as "harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of those involved".
Speaking on BBC1's Andrew Marr programme, Murphy-O'Connor said: "There have been other cases which have been a great scandal to the church over these past years. I think the church has to face up – has faced up – to some of them very well indeed. I don't know what the church will do. I think Cardinal O'Brien is very near to retirement and I suspect that his resignation, which is already with the pope, because he's nearing 75 and every bishop has to retire – then presumably that will be accepted." He was named bigot of the year in 2012 by the gay rights group Stonewall. But in an interview broadcast by the BBC on Friday, O'Brien said he believed Catholic priests ought to be able to marry and have children, claiming many priests found it "very difficult to cope" with celibacy.
Murphy-O'Connor said it was up to O'Brien to decide whether he would travel to the Vatican for the conclave. "That is up to Cardinal O'Brien to decide … it will be up to him, and I think rightly so," he said. "The allegations have not been proved in any way, so he will have to decide whether he wants to go." The allegations against O'Brien were sent to the pope's emissary to the UK, the papal nuncio, Antonio Mennini, in the week before Benedict announced his resignation. They raise questions about whether the cardinal will now attend the conclave in Rome.
O'Brien, who will be the only British representative at the conclave, has been a vigorous and outspoken critic of gay rights, denouncing plans for the legalisation of gay marriage as "harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of those involved". The revelation of the priests' complaints – which included a demand for O'Brien's immediate resignation – will be met with consternation in the Vatican.
He was named as "bigot of the year" in 2012 by the gay rights group Stonewall. But in an interview on the BBC broadcast on Friday, O'Brien said he believed Catholic priests ought to be able to marry and have children, claiming many priests found it "very difficult to cope" with celibacy. Allegations of misconduct by members of the church have dogged Benedict's papacy. Following his resignation statement, rumours have swirled in Rome that Benedict's shock move may be connected to further scandals to come.
The cardinal, who will be 75 on St Patrick's Day, 17 March, and is expected to retire from all his duties, has already stood down from his role as formal head of the Scottish Catholic bishops conference because of his age and infirmity. There are growing demands from Catholics in the US for another cardinal, Roger Mahony, not to take part in the conclave.
The four complainants, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, have contacted nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican's ambassador to Britain, and demanded O'Brien's immediate resignation. A spokesman for the cardinal said the claims were contested. In January, the archdiocese of Los Angeles stripped Mahony – its former archbishop – of his public duties after it was revealed he tried to conceal child molestation by priests.
One of the men, it is understood, alleges that the cardinal developed an inappropriate relationship with him, resulting in a need for long-term psychological counselling. Senior figures in the Catholic church said O'Brien was highly unlikely to stay away from the conclave: they said the claims were unproven and dated back 30 years, while cardinals had a duty to the pope to take part in conclaves.
The four submitted statements containing their claims to the nuncio's office the week before Pope Benedict's resignation on 11 February. They fear that, if O'Brien travels to the forthcoming papal conclave to elect a new pope, the church will not fully address their complaints. The former archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who will be travelling to the Vatican to advise voting cardinals, said he was "very sad" to hear about the allegations. Speaking on BBC1's Andrew Marr programme, the cardinal said the church had faced up to other controversies, and "some of them very well indeed". He added: "I don't know what the church will do. I think Cardinal O'Brien is very near to retirement and I suspect his resignation, which is already with the pope, because he's nearing 75 and every bishop has to retire – then presumably that will be accepted."
"It tends to cover up and protect the system at all costs," said one of the complainants. "The church is beautiful, but it has a dark side and that has to do with accountability. If the system is to be improved, maybe it needs to be dismantled a bit." Murphy-O'Connor said it was up to O'Brien to decide whether to travel to the Vatican: "The allegations have not been proved in any way, so he will have to decide whether he wants to go."
The revelation of the priests' complaints will be met with consternation in the Vatican. Allegations of sexual abuse by members of the church have dogged the papacy of Benedict XVI, who is to step down as pope at the end of this month. Following the announcement, there has been speculation in Rome that Benedict's shock move may be connected to further scandals to come. Catherine Pepinster, editor of the leading Catholic newspaper the Tablet, said many people who had met O'Brien would be shocked by the allegations. "He is an immensely personable, warm man, although his language at times, on issues such as gay marriage, can be intemperate," she said.
The four priests asked a senior figure in the diocese to act as their representative to the nuncio's office. Through this representative, the nuncio replied, in emails seen by the Observer, that he appreciated their courage. Adding that O'Brien was obliged by his office as cardinal to go to the conclave, Pepinster said efforts to investigate the allegations would be delayed by the pope's resignation: "There will be an interregnum until the next pope is elected and much of the work of the Vatican will come to a halt.
It is understood that the first allegation against the cardinal dates back to 1980. The complainant, who is now married, was then a 20-year-old seminarian at St Andrew's College, Drygrange, where O'Brien was his "spiritual director". The Observer understands that the statement claims O'Brien made an inappropriate approach after night prayers. "Cardinal O'Brien is due to take part in the conclave to elect the next pope. As a cardinal elector he has not only a right but a duty to participate. The participants are there because the pope who gave them the 'red hat' chose them to join the college of cardinals. That is the only stipulation. The conclave is not obliged to be made up of saints."
The seminarian said he was too frightened to report the incident, but his personality changed afterwards, and his teachers regularly noted that he seemed depressed. He was ordained, but he told the nuncio in his statement that he resigned when O'Brien was promoted to bishop. "I knew then he would always have power over me. It was assumed I left the priesthood to get married. I did not. I left to preserve my integrity." This is the second time in a few days that allegations of clerical misconduct have intruded on the controversial end to Benedict's stormy papacy. Last Thursday, an Italian daily newspaper linked his resignation to the discovery of a network of gay prelates in the Vatican, some of whom – it said – were being blackmailed by outsiders. La Repubblica said the pope had taken his decision to resign on 17 December, on the day he received a dossier compiled by three cardinals delegated to look into the so-called "Vatileaks affair".
In a second statement, "Priest A" described being happily settled in a parish when he claims he was visited by O'Brien and inappropriate contact between the two took place. Last May, Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested and charged with having stolen and leaked papal correspondence that depicted the Vatican as a seething hotbed of intrigue and infighting.
In a third statement, "Priest B" claimed he was starting his ministry in the 1980s when he was invited to spend a week "getting to know" O'Brien at the archbishop's residence. His statement alleges that he found himself dealing with what he describes as unwanted behaviour by the cardinal after a late-night drinking session. On Saturday the Vatican dismissed the La Repubblica report as an attempt to influence the cardinals choosing a new pontiff. Michael Walsh, a Catholic historian and former Jesuit priest who has recently revised the Oxford Dictionary of Popes, said the Vatican would do well to step back from the allegations and let them be dealt with by the appropriate authorities.
"Priest C" was a young priest the cardinal was counselling over personal problems. His statement claims O'Brien used night prayers as an excuse for inappropriate contact. "The Vatican should really leave issues like this to be dealt with locally," he said. "But it's averse to letting that happen; it's power-hungry and what the next pope has to do is bring the Vatican under control. It interferes in these issues but it shouldn't; they should be handled locally."
The cardinal maintained contact with Priest C over a period of time, and the statement to the nuncio's office alleges that he engineered at least one other intimate situation. O'Brien is, says Priest C, very charismatic, and being sought out by the superior who was supposed to be guiding him was both troubling and flattering.
Those involved believe the cardinal abused his position. "You have to understand," explained the ex-priest complainant, "the relationship between a bishop and a priest. At your ordination, you take a vow to be obedient to him.
"He's more than your boss, more than the CEO of your company. He has immense power over you. He can move you, freeze you out, bring you into the fold … he controls every aspect of your life. You can't just kick him in the balls."
All four have been reluctant to raise their concerns. They are, though, concerned that the church will ignore their complaints, and want the conclave electing the new pope to be "clean". According to canon law, no cardinal who is eligible to vote can be prevented from doing so.