Cardinal's shoulder fixed in latest operation

Published on Friday 25 April 2008 10:38

SCOTLAND'S most senior Roman Catholic has had another operation weeks after having a heart pacemaker fitted, it was reported today.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, 71, had the pacemaker fitted last month after fainting before Palm Sunday mass.

Now it has emerged that the cardinal recently went under the knife for treatment to ruptured tendons in his left shoulder. The operation took place at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and has left him in a sling. It had been planned to take place sooner but had to be postponed to prioritise the heart operation.

Cardinal O'Brien, who is Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, is now recovering at home, and was said to be light hearted about his latest medical setback.

He reportedly said: "I'm not complaining, but it is just slightly inconvenient when celebrating Mass."

The cardinal has been in the public eye recently with his attacks on the Government's legislation on embryo research.

In his Easter Sunday sermon, he claimed the legislation – which supporters claim could help cure diseases such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis – could lead to experiments of "Frankenstein proportion".