LONDON, UK — Just one day after a newspaper accused him of committing “inappropriate acts” with four current and former male members of the clergy, Cardinal Keith O’Brien announced on February 25 his resignation as the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the United Kingdom.

O’Brien also said that he would not attend Vatican deliberations for the selection of a new pope to replace Pope Benedict XVI, who stunned the world on February 11 by announcing his own resignation.

But he would make no comment on the report by The Observer newspaper, which said that the Vatican had been made aware of accusations dating back to the 1980s.

In a statement, O’Brien said that “the Holy Father has now decided that my resignation will take effect today, 25 February 2013, and that he will appoint an apostolic administrator to govern the archdiocese in my place until my successor as archbishop is appointed.”

He added, “Looking back over my years of ministry: For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologize to all whom I have offended.”

O’Brien has headed the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland since 1985. He was elevated to cardinal in 2003 by Pope John Paul II, and was among the cardinals in 2005 that selected Benedict to serve as successor to John Paul.

The cardinals will begin meeting on Friday (Match 1) to decide when they will open the papal conclave.

On February 24, the newspaper reported that four men had complained to the pope’s diplomatic representative in Britain.

One of the four men who complained is a former priest who claimed that he left the priesthood because he could not live with spending a lifetime under O’Brien’s authority. The man allegedly accused the cardinal of making an “inappropriate approach” in 1980 when the man was an 18-year-old seminarian and O’Brien his spiritual counselor.

The other complainants are still priests. One spoke of inappropriate contact between him and O’Brien while the cardinal was still only a priest. The third said he was invited to spend a week “getting to know” O’Brien, who was by then an archbishop, and having to fend off “unwanted attention” and drunken advances.

The fourth man claimed that the prelate took advantage of his position as a counselor when the man came to him for guidance during the first years of his priesthood, when O’Brien was an archbishop.

According to the official church statement, “A number of allegations of inappropriate behavior have been made against the cardinal. The cardinal has sought legal advice, and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time. There will be further statements in due course.”

As a prince of the church, O’Brien’s record on gay rights has been mixed. Before his elevation to cardinal, O’Brien publicly acknowledged the large number of gay priests within the church, and voiced disapproval after a Scottish bishop said that homosexuals should be forbidden from teach in Roman Catholic schools.

In recent years, O’Brien has spoken against LGBT rights and described homosexual behavior as immoral. He also opposed allowing gay men and women to adopt children, and argued against same-sex marriage, calling it “harmful to the [couple’s] spiritual, mental and spiritual well-being.

In 2012, British LGBT rights group Stonewall selected O’Brien for its “Bigot of the Year” award.