As a long-term critic of Cardinal Keith O'Brien I take no pleasure in his current predicament and unlike the Church that should have stood by him I believe he has suffered enough and should be left alone ("Cardinal ordered into exile by Vatican", The Herald, May 4).

The Catholic Church obviously frowns on the cardinal failing to uphold his celibacy and particularly frowns on him for having an orientation it despises but that does not seem to be his true crime. When the Church became aware of the allegations but before they became public their reaction was to quietly retire him. Only after the media found out have they forced him into seclusion and threatened him with further humiliation.

I am not a believer but feel in this instance I might be a better Christian than those within Vatican in that I am willing to contemplate forgiveness and do not approve of humiliating an already broken man for the sake of the political clout of the Church, clout that it presumably wants to regain so that it can continue its campaign against same-sex marriage without being accused of hypocrisy.

The cardinal was indeed a hypocrite and the homophobia he peddled did harm, but he must also have suffered greatly attempting to deny himself. This end is not a fitting one for a man who, however much I disagreed with him, did try to do good in public life.

Iain Paterson,

2F Killermont View,

Glasgow.

You report that the Vatican has ordered Cardinal O'Brien into exile for his serious lapses of behaviour. I am not a Roman Catholic and I am as horrified as anyone else at the many dreadful stories worldwide of Catholic clergy sexually abusing parishioners and seminarians but since when has a foreign power had the authority to order a British citizen to leave the United Kingdom?

This is a step too far. We no longer live in the Middle Ages. Is the Vatican going to order other British citizens to leave our country because they are an embarrassment to the Church? Is the Vatican similarly ordering American clergy into exile, or Italian clergy, or clergy elsewhere in the world? I hope the UK Government will instruct Nigel Baker, the UK Ambassador to the Holy See, to make it clear in no uncertain terms that its reported instructions to Cardinal O'Brien are inconsistent with his rights as a British citizen. The Vatican's views in this matter are offensive and a disgrace, and the Catholic Church now needs to be called to account.

Whatever punishments are meted out for the former leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, whether they are judicial or internal, they have to be consistent with both Scots law and the Human Rights Act just as they are for anyone else. The Roman Catholic Church and its de facto leader in Scotland, Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, need to be reminded that we no longer send citizens into exile simply to make life more comfortable for him and his few remaining bishops.

Bryan Owen,

10 Waverley Park,

Kirkintilloch.

Cardinal O'Brien served the Catholic community for many years and was unafraid to make clear the teaching of the Church.

But he made mistakes and, like all of us, he has paid the price. He has had to resign with his reputation in tatters yet as a long-time opponent of his on many matters theological and secular I am deeply sorry it has ended this way.

I was moved, as I am sure he was, by the petition raised by the Catholic people of Dunbar declaring their support and affection. It is now time for all of us – especially the hierarchy in Rome – to move on.

Rev Dr John Cameron,

10 Howard Place,

St Andrews.