O'Brien scandal: Vatican calls halt to new bishops | Herald Scotland: In the first known move in relation to the crisis since the election of Pope Francis, Scotland's leading Catholic cleric Philip Tartaglia was given the news at a meeting in the Vatican this week.
Cardinal O'Brien resigned from his position as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh two months ago amid confessions of gay sexual activity spanning decades.
The move by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, one of the front-runners in the recent conclave to elect a new pope, means three dioceses – Paisley, Dunkeld and Edinburgh – will not have their vacancies for a bishop filled.
Another two with ageing bishops, Motherwell and Galloway, will not have their churchmen replaced.
Canadian Cardinal Ouellet is the current prefect of the Congregation for the Bishops, which oversees the selection of new bishops.
Serving and former trainee priests have claimed to have been abused by Cardinal O'Brien, who remains a cardinal.
