Keith O'Brien

Who is Keith O'Brien?

Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien is a Scottish Roman Catholic cardinal. He served as the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh from 1985 to 2013. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2003. As of July 2013 O'Brien remained Britain's most senior Catholic.

O'Brien was the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and had been the head of its Conference of Bishops. His resignation as archbishop was announced in February 2013 after allegations initially in The Observer newspaper that O'Brien had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with junior priests. It was also announced that he would not attend the conclave to elect Benedict XVI's successor as Pope. On 3 March 2013 O'Brien admitted that his sexual conduct had at times "fallen beneath the standards expected of [him]". Following his resignation as Archbishop, the Vatican referred to O'Brien as "His Eminence Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien, Archbishop Emeritus of St Andrews and Edinburgh", in line with the standard practice of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The Vatican announced on 15 May 2013 that he had agreed to leave Scotland for several months of spiritual renewal, prayer and penance.