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Pope Francis has in hand a report on the allegations regarding Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Scotland, who stood down in 2013 after admitting sexual misconduct, The Tablet is reporting.
In February 2013 as O’Brien was preparing to leave for Rome and the conclave that would elect Pope Francis, a number of priests and one former priest went public with allegations of sexual misconduct by O’Brien, much of it stretching back for years the men’s seminary days. O’Brien did not attend the conclave and resigned shortly before it was convened.
Last year, Francis sent Charles Scicluna, then an auxiliary bishop in Malta and now an archbishop there, to investigate the allegations against O’Brien. That is the report that Francis has, and according to one of the men whom Scicluna interviewed, it’s “hot enough to burn the varnish” off the Pope's desk.
Catholics in Scotland are waiting for a reply.
