Keith O’Brien, the UK’s top Catholic and head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland — until resigning last week — now admits sexual misconduct although stopped just short of admitting the allegations against him are true and he, apparently, indeed had engaged in homosexual sexual relations. Last year, Cardinal O’Brien called same-sex marriage “madness” and a “grotesque subversion.”
READ: Top UK Cardinal Resigns After Accusations Of ‘Inappropriate Acts’ With Priests
“In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me have become public,” Cardinal O’Brien said via a statement issued Sunday.
“Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me to contest them. However, I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal.
“To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness… To the Catholic Church and people of Scotland, I also apologise.â€
The 74-year old Cardinal then announced his retirement:
“I will now spend the rest of my life in retirement. I will play no further part in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland.â€
Cardinal O’Brien last year, in his increasing anti-gay stance, weighed in on the marriage equality debate in the UK.
“Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the most senior Catholic in Scotland, Cardinal Keith Michael Patrick O’Brien, has said that gay marriage is a ‘grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right,'” Pink News UK reported last year:
He suggests that same sex marriage will lead to three way marriages and compares the government’s support for equality to legalising slavery.
Cardinal O’Brien will not vote for a pope to replace Benedict XVI.
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