57 Facts About Keith O'Brien

Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien was a senior-ranking Catholic prelate in Scotland.

Keith O'Brien was the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh from 1985 to 2013.

Keith O'Brien was opposed to homosexuality, which he described as "moral degradation", and a vehement opponent of same-sex marriage.

Keith O'Brien died after a fall, aged 80, on 19 March 2018.

Keith O'Brien was born at Ballycastle, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on St Patrick's Day, 17 March 1938.

Keith O'Brien initially attended St Stephen's Primary School, Dalmuir, before continuing to secondary school at St Patrick's High School, Dumbarton.

Keith O'Brien studied at the University of Edinburgh where he gained a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1959.

Keith O'Brien was then moved to full-time parish apostolate in St Patrick's, Kilsyth from 1972 until 1975 and then St Mary's, Bathgate from 1975 until 1978.

Keith O'Brien served as spiritual director to the students at St Andrew's College, Drygrange from 1978 until 1980; then as Rector of St Mary's College, Blairs, the junior seminary near Aberdeen, from 1980 until 1985.

Keith O'Brien was nominated Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh on 30 May 1985 and was consecrated by Gray, then Archbishop Emeritus of St Andrews and Edinburgh, at St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh on 5 August 1985.

Keith O'Brien was made Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 2005, appointed Grand Prior of the Scottish Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 2001 and appointed Knight Grand Cross of that order in 2003.

In 2004, Keith O'Brien was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of St Andrews, and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Edinburgh.

Keith O'Brien was Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles from 1996 until 1999, when Bishop Ian Murray took over the diocese.

Keith O'Brien took part in the 2005 Papal Conclave which elected Pope Benedict XVI.

Keith O'Brien said he did not know; Nichols said English, Welsh and Scottish bishops had "robust" rules in place to protect children.

Mario Conti, Archbishop emeritus of Glasgow, said all the Scottish Catholic bishops except Keith O'Brien cooperated over an independent inquiry into the handling of child abuse in Scotland between 1952 and 2012 with the results to be published.

When Keith O'Brien announced on 25 February 2013 that Pope Benedict had accepted his resignation as archbishop, he said he would not exercise his right to participate in the conclave in March to elect Benedict's successor.

Keith O'Brien was President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland and fulfilled various engagements at the request of other members of the Conference.

Keith O'Brien was sometimes referred to as the "Primate of Scotland"; however, this title or position has never existed.

Keith O'Brien tendered his resignation from the governance of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh to the Pope some time in 2012, in view of his 75th birthday in March 2013; the Pope accepted it nunc pro tunc on 13 November 2012 and decided it would become effective on 25 February 2013.

On 25 February 2013 it was announced that Keith O'Brien's previously submitted resignation as archbishop would take effect that same day, and a temporary apostolic administrator was appointed in his place.

Keith O'Brien said that he would not participate in the oncoming conclave, although entitled to do so.

Keith O'Brien then made no further public appearance until early May 2013.

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, temporary successor to Keith O'Brien, said the "credibility and moral authority" of the church had been damaged.

Devlin asserts that Keith O'Brien's misconduct was well known internally before the four made public allegations.

Keith O'Brien was further accused of trying to grope a priest in 2003 in Rome at a drinks party to celebrate his becoming a cardinal.

Keith O'Brien faced allegations of a "culture of cronyism" within his archdiocese, and that this made him less likely to challenge priests to whom he had made advances.

Keith O'Brien returned to Scotland and attempted to settle into the church-owned cottage he had planned as his retirement home in Dunbar, East Lothian.

On 15 March 2013, it was confirmed that the Vatican had ordered Keith O'Brien to leave Scotland, and he left for months of "prayer and penance".

Holloway likened Keith O'Brien's forced exile to the tactics of "extraordinary rendition" of the US Central Intelligence Agency.

The four complainants said that Keith O'Brien needed psychological counselling rather than prayer and penance.

In July 2013 Keith O'Brien was reported to be in a monastery in Europe or an enclosed abbey in the English Midlands.

Keith O'Brien says O'Brien bought a jet ski for a friend and the source of the money is unclear.

Keith O'Brien had since January 2014 been living, initially incognito, in a home provided by the Catholic Church in the village of Ellington, Northumberland, fifty miles south of the Scottish border.

Keith O'Brien retained the title of Cardinal, but did not any longer carry out the functions of a cardinal and was only allowed to wear a cardinal's robes in private.

Keith O'Brien was the first misbehaving Catholic cardinal whose case was dealt with publicly.

The Keith O'Brien case forced accountability and discussion of such cases on the Catholic church, and Rome was forced to create a process.

Keith O'Brien said, while criticising a parliamentary bill on embryology in 2008, that he carried an organ donor card.

Keith O'Brien suffered from heart problems and was fitted with a pacemaker after complaining of dizzy spells and fainting prior to Passion Sunday Mass in March 2008.

Keith O'Brien died after a fall on 19 March 2018, two days after his 80th birthday.

Keith O'Brien was often forthright in his political and spiritual views.

In 1999, at the European Synod of Bishops, Keith O'Brien declared who he saw fit to be the next Archbishop of Westminster, following the death of Cardinal Basil Hume.

Keith O'Brien named his candidate, Timothy Radcliffe, Master General of the Dominican order.

At the synod, Radcliffe had made an appeal to Keith O'Brien, saying that there was a crisis of authority in the church, but the answer could not be more emphasis on authority.

Keith O'Brien said aggressive secularism threatened the Christian heritage and he wanted religion to remain in the public sphere.

Specifically, legislation requiring Christians to tolerate homosexuality was a type of secularism Keith O'Brien opposed, and he called on Christians of all denominations to unite in combating secularism.

In December 2011, Keith O'Brien reiterated the Catholic Church's continued opposition to civil partnerships and suggested that there should be no laws that "facilitate" same-sex relationships, saying that.

In 2012, Keith O'Brien criticised in The Daily Telegraph government proposals to introduce same-sex marriage, saying it was "madness", and would "redefine society since the institution of marriage is one of the fundamental building blocks of society", and thus shame the United Kingdom.

On 22 February 2013, in an interview with the BBC, Keith O'Brien said he was open to the possibility of removing the requirement of celibacy in the priesthood.

In May 2007 Keith O'Brien urged Roman Catholics to reject political candidates who support what he called the "social evil" of abortion, and said that such Catholic politicians should not expect to remain full members of the church.

Keith O'Brien himself narrated a five-minute video recording in which he stated the "many, many concerns" of the Catholic Church concerning the bill which was to be voted on in Parliament.

In March 2011, Keith O'Brien called British foreign policy "anti-Christian" for greatly increasing aid to Pakistan without requiring any commitment from the Pakistani government to religious freedom for Christians and other religious minority groups.

Keith O'Brien made this statement in the wake of the assassination of Pakistani minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who had spoken out against the country's blasphemy law.

Keith O'Brien called for a 310-year-old law banning Catholics from taking the throne to be repealed.

Keith O'Brien said the Act of Settlement of 1701 was hampering efforts to curb sectarianism.

Keith O'Brien drew parallels with the independence of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland: "it is difficult to argue that ecclesiastical independence is acceptable but political independence is not".

In 2011, Keith O'Brien preached a homily including the quote below.