Cardinal Keith O'Brien Britain's top Catholic cardinal has admitted that he engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a number of priests, and by implication that he is gay. Allegations against Cardinal Keith O'Brien, 74, have circulated for some time and led to his standing down down from attending the Vatican conclave which will select the new Catholic Pope. O'Brien resigned last week from his position as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh and he has just released a statement in which, although it does not clarify specifics of his conduct,he says there have been times "that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal". It is understood allegations against O'Brien, which he at first contested, relate to incidents that go back at least thirty years. He says he will retire and will play no further active public role in the Catholic church. The Catholic church, which demands celibacy from its all-male clergy and which has a rigidly anti-homosexual stance, has ironically long been known to have been seen as a place of refuge by some homosexual male Catholics who, taught that their sexuality is a sinful deviance, have retreated to an environment in which they are not expected to marry or father children. O'Brien had lately called on his church to allow priests to marry. O'Brien's admission today comes amidst allegations in Italian media that gay clerics exert "undue" influence in the Vatican and that there is an established circle of gay clerics there who engage in same-sex sexual encounters on a regular basis.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 4th March 2013 - 11:04am