Picture: The Guardian/James Fraser/Rex Features
The Vatican has finally acceded to demands for a formal inquiry into Britain's most senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who resigned from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in February following allegations of sexual misconduct.
An apostolic visitation, a high-level inspection in which the "visitator" is given authority directly by the pope, will take place in the diocese, which has been accused of having had a "gay mafia" during the cardinal's tenure.
News of the apostolic visitation came via the papal nuncio, Antonio Mennini, in a meeting with one of the complainants, a former priest known as "Lenny" who accused the cardinal of making sexual advances to him when he was a seminarian. "The archbishop told me the holy see had decided there would be an investigation into all of the allegations. Anyone affected would be able to give evidence. If it is judged that there is sufficient evidence, then it would go to another, deeper process in Rome," said Lenny.
Full Story: Vatican agrees to inquiry into Cardinal O'Brien's sexual conduct
Source:The Guardian