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Cardinal Keith O’Brien had longtime fellow priest boyfriend says Scottish newspaper

Lover went public after Irish-born cardinal slammed gay behavior and gay marriage

PATRICK COUNIHAN,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Friday, March 22, 2013, 7:11 AM

Updated Friday, March 22, 2013, 9:12 AM

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Cardinal Keith O'Brien

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The man who made a complaint against Scotland’s Catholic Church leader was also Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s gay lover.

The Scottish Herald newspaper has revealed that one of the priests who outed the anti-gay cleric was also his long term boyfriend.

The paper says Antrim born Cardinal O’Brien had a ‘long-standing physical relationship with one of the men whose complaints about his behaviour sparked his downfall as leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland’.

The report adds that the Cardinal was in a ‘long-standing physical relationship with one of the men now accusing him’.

It adds that the complainant left the priesthood in the middle of the last decade but rejoined. He is now living on the continent in a post the Cardinal helped him secure.

The paper says the priest has been in regular telephone contact with Cardinal O’Brien and was a frequent visitor to his official residence in Edinburgh.

The outspoken Cardinal, a campaigner against gay marriage, was forced to confess to the relationship after several complaints were made to the Vatican about his sexual behaviour towards priests in the 1980s.

He referred to his relationship in his resignation speech in terms of ‘sexual conduct as a priest, a bishop and a cardinal’.

The report also claims that his downfall as Britain’s leading Catholic cleric was ‘spurred by gay priests angry at his rhetoric and hypocrisy about same-sex marriages’.

The report says: “All those who complained about Cardinal O’Brien and alleged they had been abused by him were known to him for decades.

“At least two are known to have been in same-sex relationships and had become exasperated at double standards in his statements about gay marriage.

“In the six months building up to him being forced to stand down last month, the cardinal had been under some pressure from priests to tone down the rhetoric.

“However, his statements, such as describing homosexuality as a ‘moral degradation’, were a tipping point for those previously close to him.”

One of the complainants, now a Cardinal himself, was due to speak to the Herald but later declined.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church said: “The priest concerned is a priest of the diocese of Aberdeen currently on a leave of absence from parish ministry.”

One senior church figure told the paper that while some fundamentalist Catholic groups had previously linked the priest with Cardinal O’Brien ‘there were many questions that others were asking about the relationship’.

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Frosty38 | May 11, 2013, 10:23 AM EDT

I want all of you on here to weigh in if you are true RC. do you attend Mass or are you a CAPE Catholic CHRISTMAS-ADVENT-Pentecost-Easter How many serve in the church_ Ushers-Eucharist Ministers Be honest. what I see on here are not living the faith

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eiriamach | Mar 29, 2013, 10:39 AM EDT

Only those who insist on keeping archaic sexist usages alive in English would translate "homo" as "man," BishopSean. You've been taking Liturgiam Authenticam too much to heart. It's the Curia's futile attempt to hold back the tides of time and linguistic change. On such thinking, you'd have to agree that "Most *men* are women," wouldn't you? (More than half of any human population is female.) Or this: "*Man* is a mammal; mammals have mammary glands; BishopSean is a man. Therefore, BishopSean has mammary glands" (the ancients' syllogism, with only the names changed). It's so easy to show, through all the reductio ad absurdum proofs, that "man" cannot clearly mean both "male" and "male and female." The Latin "homo" does, however, designate humans in a gender- neutral way, both female and male. English as well has words that refer to us without regard to gender, but "man" is not one of them! Consult any handbook of Standard Written English published in the past 40 years for verification. And I can't help thinking that you and the Catholics so often summon the devil as an excuse for sin that he'll seem like an old friend when you meet up with him in the hereafter.

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BishopSean | Mar 23, 2013, 04:21 PM EDT

Hi, Eiriamach. You are right that Vir is one Latin word for man and, although Homo (as in homosexual) is derived from the Greek for “same,” Homo is also a valid Latin word for “man” not restricted to the Latin Vulgate. From the accusative “hominem,” Romance (medieval Latin) evolved and gave us in Spanish “hombre,” in French “l’homme,” in Italian “uomo,” Portuguese “homem,” Romanian “om,” and “Home” in Catalan and Galician. Vir had more of the sense of a “he-man,” or warrior. In any case, Misswhisp is right about the devil having infiltrated the Church. We all need to repent and accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour completely on His own terms…among other things this excludes homosexuality and abortion and all other sins, no matter how socially acceptable or addictive they now are. Misswhisp cares enough about you and all us IC readers to tell us all the truth. Blessings!

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EamonnDublin | Mar 23, 2013, 02:00 PM EDT

Hi, Seán! I didn't say that nothing negative should ever be written about the Catholic church! Of course, if it leaves itself open to criticism, as some of its members have indeed done, then it is very fair to criticise. For my part, what I said is that Mr. Counihan ONLY writes negative things about the church, whereas there are PLENTY of very positive aspects to it and what it does in the world. In any other sphere, this would be termed bias, bigotry, hatred, etc., but it appears that all that stuff goes out the window when the Catholic church is up for grabs. IMHO. Mr. Counihan is the epitome of a biased, bigoted, hateful "journalist" with an agenda to push and "Irish Central" is his willing vehicle in which to push it. THAT is sad - and it is unfair. Éamonn, Dublin.

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McNamara31 | Mar 23, 2013, 10:45 AM EDT

misswhisp Well said and true.

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cillowen | Mar 22, 2013, 10:41 PM EDT

didn't think the land of "ben doon" minded being that sheep there are at risk.

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Woodman | Mar 22, 2013, 07:02 PM EDT

He was mad just cause the cardinal was just using him for sex, and wouldn't make an honest man out of him.

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eiriamach | Mar 22, 2013, 06:04 PM EDT

Misswhisp has the wrong ancien. language. In ancient Greek, "homo" means "same" or "the same," not "man." Think of "homo" as on your milk carton -- "homo-genized," with the cream thoroughly mixed through the homo-geneous liquid so that it's all the same and not separated into cream and milk. But even in Latin, despite the Catholic Church's willful sexist English mistranslations, "homo" does not mean "man." "Vir" is the Latin noun that translates accurately as "man" or male human being, husband, etc. just as "femina" translates as "woman" or female human being. If you take your cues from Liturgiam Authenticam, you'll end up with inauthentic Latin. There was a time when Catholics learned Latin and other ancient or biblical languages. Now they just make it up as they go along.

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seanomelb | Mar 22, 2013, 05:58 PM EDT

Eamonn! If it were not for priests like O'Brien there would be no need to say anything negative about the RCC. They(RCC) lie in a cess pool of their own making.Flogging the messengers is pointless.

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helmet365 | Mar 22, 2013, 05:38 PM EDT

For his penance he should be made by Pope Francis to head the next madi gras together the other priests and cardinals who want to come out.It would go a long way towards healing these issues in the Church.

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jamieLM | Mar 22, 2013, 03:57 PM EDT

@EamonnDublin, I certainly understand your frustration. I know we can all name wonderful dedicated priests and talk on and on about all the good works of the RCC around the world. But that doesn't give the wayward priests a pass. Their behavior reflects badly on the RCC; its members and its faithful clergy. None of us have to tolerate pedophile priests and those who cover up their crimes. We shouldn't have to tolerate priests who continue to break their sacred vows to God/Christ while berating their parishioners about their conduct and passing judgment on them. We're all sick of these negative stories, but they serve to let the RCC hierarchy know that we're neither oblivious to what's going on, nor complacent. We want some changes made. The Vatican needs to clear out those priests whose behavior is either criminal or the height of hypocrisy. The faithful deserve better than what we've been getting from some members of our clergy. You can't fix what you don't know or won't acknowledge. The Vatican is way over due for a wake up call to get its house in order. No church is perfect and never will be, but there is room for improvement and we won't get it until we demand it. Let's pray that Pope Francis will be the one who will put the RCC back on solid footing and then we'll be rid of so much negative publicity.

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Rebelforce | Mar 22, 2013, 03:52 PM EDT

This is sad, but not really surprising. Whenever you come across a homophobic person one should immediately consider that person a likely closet case.

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stanJames | Mar 22, 2013, 03:26 PM EDT

I have not issue with the priests etc having consensual sex age appropriate. Natural desires. Celibacy led to the church getting renamed the church of the endless molestation of children.........................But no means no. Same as in America where raping your wife is rape. Good riddance to this @#$%^&* who called gays marrying grotesquse.................Its he, many others and the church rules that are grotesque .............100,000 kids in the USA alone - many lives ruined. Our familya nd almost all of our friends have left this vile hangover from 2000 years ago.............BTW isnt there supposed to be a referendum on changing the constitution in April to allow gays to marry vs CUs. And everything I read says about 3/4 of the people want to allow that to happen and church attendance - its so low they prob dont even bother to turn on the heat in the winter on sunday.

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EamonnDublin | Mar 22, 2013, 01:29 PM EDT

Hi, Mr. Counihan! Do you by any chance know of any little stories about some GOOD things done by members of the Catholic church? Ah go on, you must have. Ah, go on, go on. Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go ON!! Somewhere there, in the dark recesses of your mind? No? Ah go on, go on, go on!!! Have a cup of tea and a little think about it, there are LOADS of them. Still no? Ah, well, never mind - I can think of quite a few meself - if you ever have a mind to publishing anything good about the Catholic church, give me a shout and I'll send you a list. But I won't be holding my breath waiting for you to ask. It's a shame you're so biased and bigoted really, because your English is quite good - you might have made a decent journalist, or something. With the proper guidance. And counselling. And a bit of medication. Éamonn, Dublin, Ireland.

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odubslaine | Mar 22, 2013, 12:33 PM EDT

That is: ...What happens in the closet should stay in the closet, Amen.

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