The most senior cleric in Britain has been reported to the Vatican for inappropriate behavior by three priests and a former priest – days after saying the clergy should be allowed to marry.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, born in Antrim, has yet to respond to the allegations stretching back 30 years but a spokesman said they would be contested.
The Observer newspaper reports that the four, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, have complained to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain.
The paper reports the four have demanded the immediate resignation of Cardinal O’Brien, not for his outspoken views against gay rights and same sex marriages.
Due to retire next month, O’Brien has condemned homosexuality as immoral, opposed gay adoption and most recently argued that same-sex marriages are ‘harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved’.
The cardinal was named ‘bigot of the year’ by the gay rights charity Stonewall for 2012.
The paper says that one of the complainants alleges that the cardinal developed an inappropriate relationship with him, resulting in a need for long-term psychological counselling.
The report adds that the four submitted statements containing their claims to the nuncio’s office the week before Pope Benedict’s resignation on February 11th.
They fear that the church will not fully address their complaints if O’Brien travels to the forthcoming papal conclave to elect a new pope.
One of the complainants told the Observer: “It tends to cover up and protect the system at all costs.
“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.”
The Vatican is believed to be angry at the latest allegations and the Nuncio has told them that he ‘appreciates’ their courage.
The paper reports that the first allegation against the cardinal dates back to 1980 when 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.
The seminarian is reported as saying he was too frightened to report the incident, but says his personality changed afterwards, and his teachers regularly noted that he seemed depressed.
He was ordained as a priest but he told the nuncio in his statement that he resigned when O’Brien was promoted to bishop.
He said: “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.”
The Observer says that, in a second statement, Priest A describes being happily settled in a parish when he claims he was visited by O’Brien and inappropriate contact between the two took place.
Priest B claims that 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. The paper reports that his statement alleges that he found himself dealing with what he describes as unwanted behaviour by the cardinal after a late-night drinking session.
Priest C was a young priest the cardinal was counselling over personal problems. His statement claims that O’Brien used night prayers as an excuse for inappropriate contact.
His statement to the nuncio’s office alleges that he engineered at least one other intimate situation.
The claimants are adamant that the cardinal abused his position.
The former priest added: “You have to understand 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.”
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.seanomelb | Feb 25, 2013, 07:27 PM EST
True eiriamach, O'Brien had a severe case ofthrowing stones in a glasshouse.
eiriamach | Feb 25, 2013, 03:52 PM EST
Isn't he the ONLY British cardinal eligible to vote for the next pope, not just the "top" one? So with his decision not to attend, Scotland and England will not be represented in the conclave?
pilib04 | Feb 25, 2013, 09:01 AM EST
EphraimKibbey, "the loudest accuser is often the most involved." Your post at 8:50pm Sunday, was right on! Right on target. O'Brien, as the most vociferous and leading opponent of gay marriage and the most homophobic cleric in Scotland and England, turns out to have, wait for it, REALLY did have relations with priests! Yep, you called this one right, Ephraim, you just didn't know what your were hitting on. O'Brien resigned and the Pope has already accepted it. The top British Catholic WILL NOT attend the conclave!
connemaragirl | Feb 25, 2013, 03:02 AM EST
When I was a teenager my father told me that the old folks used to say that the priests would be the ones that would bring down the Catholic Church,if he knew how he did not go into detail,at the time i knew nothing about homosexuality ,I often think of it now and wish he was still around so I could ask him if he knew more.
falconflash | Feb 24, 2013, 10:12 PM EST
Liberals encourage people to sin and then want to stone them when they do.
Woodman | Feb 24, 2013, 10:06 PM EST
He wants priests to be allowed the marry other men? or is it boys?
SingleDonald | Feb 24, 2013, 09:35 PM EST
In addition, a polite request for a date, which didn't interest the one being asked, should be politely declined. Then, if the supervisor makes life miserable for that person, sexual harassment charges would be appropriate. I'm just saying that consensual dating, after work, should never subject anybody to "discipline". Concerning the Bishop's "total power", over his priests, it is time the Church loosened his control, over his subordinates.
SingleDonald | Feb 24, 2013, 09:24 PM EST
The concluding paragraph has me thinking. I would not feel "harassed" if I worked for someone like Katie Couric, and she displayed an interest in me. Of course, I would expect her to be a dignified lady, in her approach to me. So long as she was, I would not hesitate going out with her! Now, when a superior is pushy, and CERTAINLY when the sought after person is of a different sexual orientation than the seeker, the approach should be rejected, with an explanation about orientation, if it applies. THEN, if the supervisor persisted, especially in a mean manner, sexual harassment charges should be leveled!
EphraimKibbey | Feb 24, 2013, 08:50 PM EST
I, too, was all set to smell a RED herring as I began the article, but then I saw the reference to accusations back in the 1980s. As far as I know, even the Vatican can't warp the fabric of Space and Time. As Olovely has stated, the loudest accuser is often the most involved. They feel it shifts suspicion away from themselves but all it does is call our attention to them.
seanomelb | Feb 24, 2013, 05:57 PM EST
I wonder how many saints were homosexuals or lesbians?? just asking
olovely | Feb 24, 2013, 05:11 PM EST
It's against Gods laws to practice judgment of your fellow man but it hasn't stopped you, misswhisp. so what consequences do you expect to face and will you be brave enough to endure them?
Collette2 | Feb 24, 2013, 03:23 PM EST
This would be a worry to the Vatican, when priest's are beginning break ranks. So many would have suffered at the hands of seminary formators, with nowhere to go. The voices of the dead will rise up out of the mouths of the living.
Maureen Hawkins | Feb 24, 2013, 03:00 PM EST
Mortimer74, the "homofascist" here would seem to be the cardinal. After all, he's the one accused of being homosexual, not his accusers, and he's the one accused of behaving in a fascist fashion. I base this observation on Wikipedia's definition of "facism as an "authoritarian form of government" which "especially once in power, has historically attacked communism, conservatism and parliamentary liberalism, attracting support primarily from the "far right" or "extreme right." That certainly sounds like the Church today, and the cardinal is accused of using the power he holds as a prelate in this "authoritarian" institution to abuse his juniors.
handsome68 | Feb 24, 2013, 02:59 PM EST
Seanmor is correct to quote the Holy Bible in the context he did. The Ten Commandments are not the Ten Suggestions, although it appears that many would like to make them into that.
Seanmor | Feb 24, 2013, 02:48 PM EST
Are All clergymen of allclergymen of all faiths reject this sentence of the Holy Bible: "a man shall not lie with another man as mith a woman. For such is an abomination"?. Should all prelates disagree with any biblical quote that condems homosexuality?
CitizenWhy | Feb 24, 2013, 02:33 PM EST
What about that ultra-conservative hierarch in Dublin of years past who regularly railed against gayness and slept with his houseboy? Bah! It gets to the point where you believe that any priest who rails against gayness is a practicing gay, and that those who ado not rail are either truly celibate gays or straights.
falconflash | Feb 24, 2013, 02:20 PM EST
Cardinal O'Brien is trying to keep the youth of Scotland away from sin. Sin or sins he may have committed himself but that does not make him hypocritical if he has turned away from whatever evil attracted him in the past...SAME FOR ALL OF YOU HERE SO QUICK TO CONDEMN A CARDINAL....you may have robbed a bank when you were in your 20's but the smartest thing you can do is to advise youngsters NOT to steal.....
Mortimer74 | Feb 24, 2013, 01:39 PM EST
The homofascists are at it again. The timing is so blatant it's laughable. Kick em out so they can go join one of the fruit bat churches. But above all, print their names. No more anonymity for the false accusers.
QoH | Feb 24, 2013, 01:22 PM EST
bunkerisland's theory number 2 - yes - priestly inability to maintain a healthy intimate relationship whether gay or straight - that seems very plausible.
Tooreenagrena | Feb 24, 2013, 01:15 PM EST
This is a lose lose scenario fot the RC Church. If O'Brien is guilty then its another monstrous exaqmple of hypocracy. If he is being set up because of his comments about celibicy, it is shameful. Also if the papal Nuncio did say that the whistleblowers were brave to speak up then is he not preempting an investigation into the truth by showing such support?
olovely | Feb 24, 2013, 01:03 PM EST
@BishopSean: she who screams the loudest has the most to hide. learn it.
olovely | Feb 24, 2013, 12:59 PM EST
If you think the timing of this is suspicious what on earth do you make of Ratzingers? The wheels have come off the whole sorry enterprise.
PhlutiePhan | Feb 24, 2013, 12:10 PM EST
@olovely: So, how about that sanctimonious William Jefferson. I suspected that he was "a saint for our times".
bunkerisland | Feb 24, 2013, 11:59 AM EST
OK! Theory #2 Most young men who enter the seminary are in rather early stages of understanding and practicing intimacy. As a consequences of their career selection they will initially have very limited contact with women (let's exclude all the Irish maids and caretakers that serve them). Their leaders are middle age or older men who have either secretly carried on a sexual relationship with the opposite sex, or they have satisfied their sexual needs alone or are attempting a sexual relationship with a youthful seminarian. Of course that ignores all the pedophiles that carry on exploiting parishioners. It becomes a den of hallow men generally unable to develop or maintain a health intimate relations be it heterosexual or homosexual. They are essentially empty vessels of men filled with secrets that are violations of their church practices & societies practices leading hypocritical lives. To leave the church, obtain normal employment and develop a life similar to the rest of us seems an impossible choice after having many of their needs met by an institution that expects little of them. They are doomed. Their numbers diminish and will continue to. The trade off is too great. Mean while the rest of us need to protect our children from the population of priests that prey on the defenseless. The days of adulation are long over. Respect falls away as more violations are known. It becomes an institution having both shame and arrogance. The humble seminarian is devoured within it!
johnbyrne | Feb 24, 2013, 11:51 AM EST
the timing is impeccable if guilty now he was guilty last year or for that matter any year you would like to choose why did they sit on this for so long, are they trying to tell us they couldnt find him. either way it sure looks like a hatchet job.but then the members of p2. within the vatican are well versed in subterfuge.
merefalow | Feb 24, 2013, 11:49 AM EST
not known for my defence of organized religion,but this smacks of a stitch up by a bunch of hysterical homos with an agenda to peddle which this priest is obviously refreshingly outspoken and catagorically against,in line with 2,000 years of church doctrine.Strange the timing of these allegations.
SeanDavie | Feb 24, 2013, 11:13 AM EST
Pounder's point is well taken. The Vatican will have to take pains to explain why to believe their timing of this revelation about this bishop's being called on the carpet in Rome, so soon after his public statement on the need of the church to allow for married priests, is anything other than an example of institutional vengeance of the Vatican for those who do not toe the party line concerning married priests. We shall see.
pounder | Feb 24, 2013, 10:59 AM EST
Something smells fishy here.We condemn the Church for everything,why not a conspiracy aginst this guy for being contrary to Church leanings on marriage by the clergy.
QoH | Feb 24, 2013, 10:23 AM EST
What a disgraceful and terrible man if this is true. The hypocrisy is stomach churning. He tells gays they can't marry, he says they are immoral and then it is alleged that he has fiddled with priests he had power over. I think that the Church is probably full of priests who are repressed gay men. They are self-loathing and they transfer their hatred onto other homosexuals. They join the Church precisely because they know they cannot get married without being found out (unresponsive equipment would soon 'out' any gay man trying to have sex with a woman). The Church is an ideal closet because it does not permit marriage for priests. From there, any self-loathing gay priest can attack all other gay men and so divert attention from themselves. It's a theory - anyone else thought this might be the case?
bunkerisland | Feb 24, 2013, 10:20 AM EST
Another arrogant church leader, dressed in red, reigning terror over young seminarians while sharing alcohol and trying to use them as sex toys. Meanwhile he ridicules others and speaks of immorality. The Catholic Church is filled with leaders that are evil, exploiting others while using their power to take what they want from others.They are like thieves in the night, wrecking the lives of others while hiding in their catered estates. It is not unlike a monarchy where leaders do little while expecting others to meet their every need. This monarchy will end as well.
Joe Kelsall | Feb 24, 2013, 09:27 AM EST
The banal priestly habits of a carnal cardinal, scorning the penalties of his obligation.
CelticQueenUSA | Feb 24, 2013, 09:14 AM EST
Well this shining star has tarnish too??? I agree with olovley.
olovely | Feb 24, 2013, 08:57 AM EST
The more I read about the Catholic Church the more I'm convinced its just an adjunct of the do as I say not as I do Republican Party.