UNDERSTATEMENT

Accused Scottish Cardinal Apologizes

For “my sexual conduct.”

The Scottish cardinal who has been accused of having a sexual relationship with three priests and a former priest apologized on Sunday for his “sexual conduct” and said he had “fallen beneath the standards expected of me.” Cardinal Keith O’Brien is Britain’s most senior Catholic official, and he said on Sunday that he would not take part in “the public life” of the church. O’Brien said he initially contested the allegations due to their “anonymous and nonspecific” nature, but now he admitted that there were times when “my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop, and cardinal.” O’Brien had been set to retire next month when he turned 75.