Cardinal Keith O’Brien Said "Homo.Grotesque”Not For Him He is Had a Man for Yrs.

Fallen Cardinal Keith O'Brien was in a 'longstanding physical relationship' with another priest despite his outspoken views on homosexuality, which he had called a 'moral degradation', it was claimed today.

The former head of the Catholic Church in Scotland is alleged to have been having an affair for years with one of the four men that eventually forced his resignation.

Cardinal O'Brien is said to have confessed to the relationship after the Vatican was warned about his behaviour towards other priests during the 1980s.

This is despite the the Northern Ireland-born priest being outspoken against homosexuality, particularly when David Cameron announced he wanted gay marriage to be made legal, calling ita 'grotesque subversion'.

 The 75-year-old had been preparing to help choose the next Pope before he admitted his ‘sexual conduct’ had ‘fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal’. 

Earlier this month Cardinal O’Brien effectively admitted that allegations that he made homosexual approaches to young trainee priests were true.

He said sorry and added that he was retiring from public life.

Three of the four men who complained about Cardinal O’Brien’s behaviour are still priests in the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, where the cardinal was archbishop. O’Brien is being sued by an ex-trainee priest who claims he groped and kissed him.

Outspoken: The fallen head of the Catholic church in Scotland had been outspoken against homosexuality and same-sex marriage

The former archbishop will faces a Vatican investigation into his behaviour and could be subjected to further punishment, including police action, if evidence of wrongdoing is found. 

It is alleged that his former partner, a priest outside Scotland, was due to speak to the press but was warned off by his bishop.

According to the Herald in Scotland, the lover had been the Cardinal's long-term boyfriend and had until recently been a frequent visitor to St Benets, O'Brien's official residence in Edinburgh.

One senior church figure told the paper: 'There were many questions that others were asking about the relationship'.

'These guys, we now know, were part of an inner circle. In the 30 years since these allegations took place there's been ample time to complain. The Cardinal has had a huge profile for the past decade. But the door wasn't just shut on them, it was bolted in the past 18 months,' another said.

'I believe they wanted to silence O'Brien - as he's about to do another conclave, and make a huge deal of it. As he's retiring, a decision's been taken to go public and take him down,' he claimed.

Gay rights groups want him to apologise over his inflammatory remarks over gay marriage.

Insiders say that he was 'brought down' by the men because of his comments.

The Catholic Church in Scotland told MailOnline: 'A number of complaints about Cardinal O’Brien were passed to the Vatican.

'Whether they were precipitated by his comments on homosexuality isn’t known.'

The church in Scotland is now under the temporary leadership of Archbishop of Glasgow Philip Tartaglia.