The Vatican has confirmed the resignation of Britain's highest-ranking catholic official.
The Vatican said Cardinal Keith O'Brien was stepping down as archbishop amid misconduct allegations.
The accusations were made in a British newspaper on Sunday by three priests and a former priest who say o'brien acted inappropriately with them.
O'Brien will not attend the conclave to elect the successor to Pope Benedict.
The Cardinal said in a statement, shown on the Scottish Catholic media website, that he would not appear at the conclave because he didn't want to be a distraction.
The resignation took many by surprise.
"Nobody knows why just now it came out. Certainly, Somebody wanted to make a scandal, but the real issue is that the stone is rolling" said Vatican Analyst, Marco Politi.
Pope Benedict officially steps down on Thursday.
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