Just days before his official retirement on Feb 28, Pope Benedict XVI made a controversial decision on Monday by forcing Scottish Cardinal, Keith O'Brien to quit his post.

The decision to pressure the head of the Scottish Catholic Church to step down over allegations of improper behavior by Cardinal O'Brien toward priests is contrary to previous reports that the cardinal resigned on his own.

The cardinal is the most serious among the 100 plus cardinals who are arriving in Vatican City to vote for the next pope in a conclave to be held inside the Sistine Chapel. His participation in the selection process was supposed to be one of his last acts as head of the Scottish Catholic Church since he is due for retirement in the next 4 weeks when he reaches 75.

Three current priests and an ex-priests claimed that the cardinal committed inappropriate acts on them during the 1980s and the publication by the Observer of the charge added to the growing list of sex scandals involving the clergy and prompted the pope's decision.

After quitting as archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Cardinal O'Brien issued a statement apologizing for any failures to those whom he offended. He canceled his trip to Vatican, which dashes any hope of him supporting a papabili who would be more friendlier to the idea of a growing proposal to remove the marriage ban on priests.

The papal move is seen as a step to prevent the allegation from growing into another crisis in the scandal-ridden church. It also spurred calls for other cardinals on their way to the Holy See who are facing similar accusations to turn back and return to their archdioceses. These include Los Angeles Emeritus Bishop Roger Cardinal Mahony and Ireland Primate Sean Cardinal Brady.

Cardinal O'Brien previous denied the allegations of the four of inappropriate behavior over the weekend, but there was no more denial in his new statement which read: "I have valued the opportunity of serving the people of Scotland and overseas in various ways since becoming a priest. Looking back over my years of ministry, for any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended."

"I also ask God's blessing on my brother cardinals who will soon gather in Rome to elect his successor. I will not join them for this conclave in person. I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me - but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and his successor," he added.

The four complainants came out last week and demanded the cardinal's resignation with the aim of preventing his participation in the conclave.

Vatican announced on Monday that the pope amended the rules governing the conclave, waiving the mandatory 15-day waiting period before cardinals below 75 years old could vote on the next pope. The old rule was made with a background of the pope dying on the job, which was the case the past 600 years until Pope Benedict surprised the world two weeks ago with the announcement of his retirement over weak health.

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