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Pope Benedict XVI has forced the sudden resignation of the most senior Roman Catholic priest in Britain, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, following a string of allegations that he committed “inappropriate acts” against fellow clergy.
Shortly ahead of the pope’s retirement on Thursday, O'Brien issued a statement vaguely apologising for “any failures”, before saying he was standing down as archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, in Scotland, and would not be travelling to the Vatican to help select a papal successor.
O'Brien would have been the only British cardinal to vote in the papal election.
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