Hushed up: cash probe into priest who made sex complaint against Keith O’Brien
A priest at the centre of the scandal that forced the leader of Scotland’s Catholics to stand down was forced to leave his parish following an investigation into church finances. The man is the cleric who has complained to the Vatican he was sexually assaulted by Cardinal Keith O’Brien in Rome on the night he [...]
Minister criticises £1.6m government grant to gay lobby
A leading Scottish churchman has criticised the Scottish Government’s decision to award a leading gay rights group £1.6 million of taxpayers’ money for its own schools programme. Rev David Robertson, minister of St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee and director of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity, condemned all homophobic bullying in Scottish schools but [...]
Cardinal O'Brien was in physical relationship with accuser
Cardinal Keith 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 man left the priesthood in the middle of the last decade but rejoined and is living on the continent in a post the cardinal helped [...]
Archbishop Justin Welby: 'Whether it’s gay or straight, sex outside marriage is wrong'
Interview with Archbishop of Canterbury on BBC Radio 4 “Sunday Programme” on Women Bishops, Gay Marriage: Listen here (around 25.00 in) Interview in Sunday Times Magazine Section with Dominic Lawson: “My understanding of sexual ethics has been that, regardless of whether it’s gay or straight, sex outside marriage is wrong.”….Welby is adamant that the government [...]
Keith O'Brien faces new allegation that he assaulted a priest on the night he was made a cardinal
Keith O’Brien has been accused of sexual assaulting a priest on the night he was made a cardinal. It has emerged that one of the claims against him centres on the night he was awarded the red mitre by Pope John Paul II in 2003. The complaint, made by a Scottish priest now based in [...]
Fresh scandal hits Catholic Church in Scotland as four more alleged victims of sexual abuse by clerics come forward
A former trainee priest claims he was sexually abused by a senior cleric while at college. The man, now in his 50s is one of four alleged victims of Catholic churchmen to have come forward in the wake of the Cardinal Keith O’Brien scandal. O’Brien faces accusations of sexual misconduct from six priests and former [...]
Cardinal Keith O’Brien faces new abuse claims
Cardinal Keith O’Brien is facing legal action over new allegations of sexual misconduct from a former trainee priest, who claims he was abused by him as a teenager. The former seminarian, who had known the cardinal since childhood, is staying anonymous, but said he had decided to come forward after the allegations of inappropriate behaviour [...]
Church of Scotland to discuss future of kirk abandoned in gay row
The Aberdeen Presbytery of the Church of Scotland will meet on Thursday to discuss the future of the city’s Gilcomston South Church. Its minister, Rev Dominic Smart, left the kirk last month along with the 300-strong congregation over the ordination of gay ministers. They were due to meet at the Copthorne Hotel, but the hotel [...]
'Change Royal succession law for children of a lesbian Queen'
The laws on Royal succession should be changed to deal with the children of a lesbian Queen in a gay marriage who conceives using donor sperm, the House of Lords has heard. David Cameron’s moves to legalise same-sex marriage raise “troubling” questions about the laws that determine which Royal children can succeed to the throne, [...]
Bishop of Motherwell felt 'betrayed' by Cardinal's sexual conduct
One of the most senior figures in the Scottish Catholic Church has said he felt “betrayed” following Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s admission of sexual misconduct towards priests. In a message read to dozens of congregations on Sunday, the Bishop of Motherwell Joe Devine talked of the church suffering serious damage not from outside, but from “its [...]
