by Mary Cullen

Brian Devlin never intended to write a book. He was one of four whistle blowers who went public about Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s inappropriate sexual behaviour with priests and clerical students in the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. Brian, a former priest, together with three serving priests, had made an official complaint to the Vatican about Cardinal O’Brien’s behaviour, which was met with silence. When they heard that O’Brien had been given the green light to attend the conclave to elect Pope Benedict’s successor in 2013, they concluded that nothing had changed. So they went to the press.

‘We felt we’d made it clear that the church needed to change from the one that was led by Cardinal O’Brien. He was the most senior Catholic cleric in the UK at the time. We had put ourselves through the wringer when we made our official complaint and we expected the church to learn’.

Cardinal Sin by Brian Devlin is published by Columba Books.

Mary Cullen is editor of Open House