Disgraced cardinal’s archdiocese subject of Vatican investigation

The Vatican has appointed a bishop known for aggressively investigating cases of sexual abuse to take testimony of clergy alleging sexual misconduct in Scotland’s archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, where Cardinal Keith O’Brien was archbishop until resigning under disgrace in February 2013.

The archdiocese’s current leader, Archbishop Leo Cushley, announced the investigation in two letters sent to his clergy Tuesday.

The letters, which were obtained by NCR Thursday from a priest of the archdiocese, announce what may be the first instance of an investigation by the Vatican of sexual misconduct by one of the church’s cardinals, who are normally considered nearly above reproach in the Vatican’s hierarchical structure.

O’Brien, who had served as the archbishop of Edinburgh since 1985, resigned abruptly  just days before Pope Benedict XVI abdicated in February 2013, following allegations by three priests and one former priest of the Scottish archdiocese that the cardinal had inappropriate sexual relations with them dating back some 30 years.

Tuesday’s letters from Cushley state that Pope Francis has asked the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops to send Maltese Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna to “listen to and report the testimony offered by past and present members of the clergy … concerning any incidents of sexual misconduct committed against them by other members of the clergy whomsoever.

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