The UK's most senior cleric, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, confessed Sunday of sexual misconduct.
Cardinal O'Brien's admission came after further details of his improper behavior with four men shed light on the allegations. Last month, the Cardinal stepped down from the post of Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh.
"I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal," the 74-year-old Cardinal, said in a statement. "In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me have become public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me to contest them. To those I have offended, I apologize and ask forgiveness."
Cardinal O'Brien also made an apology to the Catholic Church and the people of Scotland and said that he will spend his life in retirement. The allegations of inappropriate behavior were made by four priests in 1980s, of which one claimed that he was warned not to disclose it or risk damaging the Church, reported TNT Magazine.
However, the Cardinal might face inquiry only after the new Pope is chosen.
Cardinal O'Brien strongly opposed gay marriage terming it as "grotesque subversion." He also said that if plans are made to change the law there will be "further aberrations."
According to the BBC Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor said the recent events had brought "great sadness and shame."
"There have always been sinners in the church, but there has also been saints," he said.
The Vatican has been dogged by a bigger scandal surrounding former Pope Benedict XIV's resignation. Italian papers reprorted the pope resigned over the blackmailing of gay priests by male prostitutes in Rome.
CNN reported that in December, Benedict received a 300-page report about the possible blackmail, said La Repubblica newspaper and Panorama, a news weekly, citing an anonymous senior Vatican official and dozens of unnamed sources.
