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The Scottish cardinal who resigned as archbishop after admitting to sexual misconduct will leave Scotland for months of prayer and atonement, the Vatican said Wednesday in a rare sanction.

A London Catholic school said their decision to call in gay rights group Stonewall to give lessons on homophobic bullying was not prompted by a five-year-old boy calling another student’s shoes "gay."

Some gay rights activists and Catholic Church experts have found themselves at odds when interpreting comments made by two cardinals recently.

The archbishop of New York says the Roman Catholic Church has to make sure that its defense of marriage is not reduced to an attack on gays.

The world watched the Catholic Church announce on Wednesday that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio would become the new pope. As soon as the news broke, critics and pundits started to speculate over Pope Francis’ views, especially on gay rights.

Even officials in the Catholic Church are slamming their hierarchy for rank hypocrisy in the light of the now-former prelate for Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien O’Brien, admitted to having relations with fellow priests.

A Scottish cardinal on Sunday acknowledged having engaged in unspecified sexual misbehavior, apologized for his actions, and promised to stay out of the church’s public life in a statement that comes at an awkward time for the Vatican.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet once said that being pope "would be a nightmare" but his high-profile position as head of the Vatican’s office for bishops, his conservative leanings, his years in Latin America and his work in Rome make him a viable candidate.

A Scottish cardinal who stepped down from church leadership after admitting sexual misconduct should apologize to gay people for his years of "vicious and cruel language" about them, Britain’s leading gay-rights group said Monday.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien had sparked more than his fair share of controversy before stepping down as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh on Monday and announcing he wouldn’t take part in the conclave to elect the next pope.