Cardinal who lived a lie
Shamed Keith O’Brien dies in exile after sex confession
‘Will now be judged in a way he wasn’t in life’
THE disgraced former leader of Scotland’s Roman Catholics – exiled after allegations of sexual misconduct against priests – died yesterday at the age of 80.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who referred to homosexuality as ‘moral degradation’, passed away in hospital after a fall.
He became the first cardinal to resign over a personal scandal when he stepped down in 2013 after claims of ‘sexual misconduct’ against three priests and one former priest.
The former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh – Britain’s most senior Catholic – was expelled from Scotland and retired to the village of Ellington, in Northumberland.
Yesterday, the Catholic Church said that O’Brien, who suffered from a heart murmur, died at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
He was admitted after falling while in the care of nuns in the city.
His death has sparked debate about whether the church should have done more for his victims. Alan Draper, of the In Care Abuse Survivors (INCAS) group, said: ‘Cardinal O’Brien abused his position of power and it was for that gross abuse that he needed to be held to account – and I’m not entirely sure that took place.
‘He was exiled to England in a sort of medieval way when he should have been made instead to stay in Scotland to face what he had done and provide redress for his victims.
‘One should also not underestimate the spiritual damage that has taken place. He has brought shame on the Catholic Church but equally the church has failed to show any compassion towards the victims and has not reached out to survivors in any way.’
He added: ‘There’s no doubt that Cardinal O’Brien will now be judged in a way he never was in this life.’
Journalist Catherine Deveney, who broke the story of O’Brien’s misconduct, said: ‘He was a secret drinker and someone who led a double life.’
In February 2013, it was revealed that four men – three priests and a former priest – had alleged that the cardinal had abused them, with claims stretching back to the 1980s.
After initial denials, O’Brien apologised and admitted his conduct had ‘fallen beneath the standards expected of me’.
On February 25, 2013, it was announced that O’Brien’s previously submitted resignation would take effect that same day.
He promised to play no further role in the church in Scotland.
In his resignation statement, O’Brien said: ‘For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended.’
It was also revealed in 2013 by church officials that O’Brien had blocked an independent inquiry into cases of clerical abuse between 1952 and 2012.
Meanwhile, a former priest threatened to sue O’Brien, claiming he was groped and kissed while a 19-year-old seminarian. O’Brien was also accused of trying to grope another priest at a 2003 party in Rome.
Pope Francis formally accepted O’Brien’s resignation in 2015 but he was allowed to retain the title of cardinal. He was told to stay out of Scotland and public life.
It came after the Vatican sent its top sex crimes investigator, then Bishop Charles Scicluna, to look into the allegations. One of the men who accused O’Brien of inappropriate sexual conduct said the Vatican’s report was ‘hot enough to burn the varnish’ off the Pope’s desk, but that the church moved with ‘glacial’ speed when it came to making public its findings.
After initially moving to Dunbar, East Lothian, O’Brien later moved to Ellington, taking up residence in a £208,000 bungalow paid for by his former diocese.
Friend Paul McSherry said that when O’Brien’s health started to fade, in December last year, he moved to Newcastle and took a room with a Catholic order, the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Last month O’Brien, who had
suffered a heart murmur since his youth and had a pacemaker fitted ten years ago, began to ‘retain water’. Poor circulation meant his legs and ankles were swollen and he is said to have stumbled six weeks ago while in his bedroom, breaking his collar bone.
He was admitted to hospital for treatment for the break, for swelling and for a chest infection, which was affecting his heart.
He died at 1am yesterday, two days after his 80th birthday.
He was surrounded by friends and family, including his brother terry and sister-in-law Barbara.
Friend Mr McSherry, a Catholic Observer photographer, said: ‘He will be fondly remembered despite everything. Cardinal O’Brien did a lot more good for thousands of people than he did bad.
‘after he left Scotland he lived a nice retired life, doing the garden and reading the books he accumulated over the years. He was happy
‘Cloud hanging over his legacy’
until about a year ago but in the end he became unsteady on his feet and had to give up living alone. One day he turned and his feet didn’t go with him and he fell.’
O’Brien was born on St Patrick’s day in 1938 in Ballycastle, County antrim. after his primary education, his family moved to Scotland, where his father was serving with the royal Navy at Faslane, argyll.
He was educated in Edinburgh and attended the university of Edinburgh, graduating with a degree in chemistry in 1959 and a diploma in Education in 1966.
He studied for his vocation at St andrew’s College, drygrange, roxburghshire, and was ordained on april 3, 1965.
He served as assistant parish priest and chaplain of St Columba Secondary School in Cowdenbeath, Fife, where he taught science and maths, before becoming spiritual director of St andrew’s College in drygrange and rector of St Mary’s College in Blairs, aberdeenshire. On august 5, 1985, he was ordained archbishop of Saint andrews and Edinburgh.
From 1996 to 1999 he served as apostolic administrator of the diocese of argyll and the Isles and from March 2002 until 2012, O’Brien was President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.
He was made a cardinal in 2003 by Pope St John Paul II.
asked if O’Brien had brought ‘shame’ on the church, archbishop Leo Cushley of St andrews and Edinburgh told LBC radio: ‘He did. But that’s also part of a more complex legacy. He was, after all, a priest for many years and I meet many people who ask sympathetically after him, in spite of everything. But no one is denying the fact, least of all himself – he did ask for forgiveness publicly.’
In a message to O’Brien’s victims, he said: ‘We accompany them still with our prayers and with our sympathy for what happened.
‘He touched positively the lives of many but we do have to acknowledge that there is this cloud hanging over his legacy.’
the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, archbishop Philip tartaglia, he said: ‘I wish to express my sincere sympathy on the death of the late cardinal to his family and close friends.
‘I ask for prayers for the repose of his soul. May he rest in peace.’