Vatican Accepts Resignation Of Cardinal Who Confessed To Sex With Priests

Via the Huffington Post:

Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who was accused of sexually harassing several men in a scandal that exploded on the eve of the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis, has renounced the “rights and privileges” of his office but gets to keep his prestigious title, the Vatican announced Friday (March 20). O’Brien did not take part in the March 2013 conclave and now he will be barred from any future conclaves; at age 77, he would have lost his voting eligibility at age 80. Francis had been under pressure to take some action against O’Brien since one of his victims revealed that an internal church report on O’Brien had been sent to Rome and was “hot enough to burn the varnish” off the pope’s desk. At least five men – three priests, a former priest and a former seminarian – accused O’Brien of either sexually harassing them or pressuring them into sex, in allegations that went back to the 1980s. O’Brien was accused of being sexually active up through at least 2009.

Following the initial accusations, Bill Donohue declared that O'Brien was the target of false charges from the "lavender mafia." And then O'Brien confessed: "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. However, 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. To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness."

Two weeks after that murky confession, the Scotland Herald revealed that O'Brien's chief accuser had been his long-term boyfriend. In August 2013 it was revealed that O'Brien had thwarted investigations into sexual abuses committed by priests under his command. And yet he gets to keep his red hat. Take that shocked look off your face.

Today's Front Pages In Britain

SCOTLAND: Secession Drive May Fail

Scotland's referendum on independence from the United Kingdom is just weeks away and it appears that concerns about the economic impact of secession may have doomed the cause.

Many businesses in Scotland have reservations about independence. Standard Life, a pensions and investments company based in Edinburgh, in May said it had drawn up plans to move operations to England if Scots vote to secede, citing uncertainties over currencies and taxes. On Monday, National Australia Bank Ltd., owner of Scottish lender Clydesdale Bank, said independence might result in significant extra costs and risks for its business there. Nationalists need only a simple majority in the September ballot to end the 1707 union between England and Scotland that followed centuries of antagonism. To many Scots that marriage was a shotgun wedding. A disastrous attempt to establish a colony at Darien on the Isthmus of Panama in the late 17th century left Scotland's finances in ruins. England demanded the union as the price of a bailout.

Here's a pro-independence ad from Yes Scotland.

RELATED: Yes Scotland claims that Scotland's membership in the European Union will be "uninterrupted."

Scotland will remain part of the European Union after independence. As explained in its “independence roadmap” and in its white paper "Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland", the Scottish Government proposes to agree the terms of Scotland’s continued membership of the EU between the date of the referendum, and the proposed date of independence on 24th March 2016. In that way questions relating to our ongoing EU membership can be settled before we become independent. Scotland already is part of the EU – so there is no doubt that we meet all the requirements for membership, and with our energy and fishing resources it is clearly common sense, and in the interests of the EU, that Scotland's place in the EU continues seamlessly. Even the UK government’s expert European legal adviser has accepted that this timetable is “realistic”. So Scotland’s EU membership will be secure by the time we are independent.

LIVE VIDEO: Scottish Parliament Debates Final Reading Of Gay Marriage Bill

The Scottish Parliament is set to vote today on the third and final reading of its marriage equality bill, which is expected to pass easily. Via the BBC:

The legislation, which is facing its final vote in the Holyrood parliament, passed its previous parliamentary hurdle by 98 votes to 15, with five abstentions. MSPs have been allowed a free vote, rather than along party lines, and voting numbers for the last stage are expected to remain broadly the same as on the previous occasion.  Gay rights organisations, including the Equality Network and Stonewall Scotland, and a range of other groups, have supported the legislation. But the Scottish Catholic Church and Church of Scotland oppose the move, and have said they have no plans to conduct same-sex marriages. And the campaign group Scotland for Marriage said the safeguards in the bill did not go far enough. .

Watch live here. Anti-gay MSPs are attempting to inject the same poison pill amendments that failed before. Pink News is running a live blog here. Same-sex marriages were approved in England and Wales last year and commence on March 29th. Marriages in Scotland are expected to commence in the fall. Same-sex marriage in the fourth country of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, remains mired in opposition.

New Zealand Might Change Its Flag

The prime minister of New Zealand today suggested holding a public referendum on changing the national flag.  Proponents argue that the current flag suggests that New Zealand remains a colony of the United Kingdom. Others point out that the flag is often confused with the national flag of Australia, which is almost the same except it carries two more stars.

Labour Party deputy leader David Parker said it was not an important issue, but he supported a change to a red, white and blue design by an unnamed Dunedin designer which incorporated Maori and colonial influences. United Future leader Peter Dunne said the present flag "smacks of British imperialism" and recommended the Union Jack be removed. Mana Party leader Hone Harawira, who negotiated with the Government to get a Maori flag flown from the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day, said it was "time for for us to grow up and move on". He flew the Tino Rangitiratanga flag on his car but said any flag would be an improvement on the Union Jack and Southern Cross. The present flag dates from 1865, when the British Government asked vessels in its colonies to fly flags with the Blue Ensign. In 1869, Governor Sir George Bowen directed that the Southern Cross be added, as the constellation could be seen only in the Southern Hemisphere. The present design was adopted as the national flag in 1902.

I always get the Cuban and Puerto Rican flags confused.