But it was all a misunderstanding and partly down to her child's inability to pronounce his ‘T's. Read more

Physicist Lawrence Krauss was due to speak on a double-bill with Richard Dawkins at the Science in the Soul tour in May in Auckland and Christchurch, but the promoter has announced he would no longer be on the bill.

Instead, Dawkins would appear at the two Science in the Soul shows alone, with a new co-host to be announced, Australia-based Think Inc. said.

The Auckland University of Technology had pulled its sponsorship of the tour, and New Zealand event management firm Loop had also backed out.

With Krauss' departure, it is unclear whether Loop and AUT would step back in.

Loop declined to comment and AUT has been approached.

Krauss, a professor in the Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, is a director of the Origins Project, a multidisciplinary research effort to tackle questions about life, the universe and complex social problems.

He gained prominence for his book, "The Physics of Star Trek" in 1995.

He later became one of the leaders of the so-called "skeptics" movement that espouses science over religion.

Arizona State University has suspended him while it investigates accusations.

Krauss has published a lengthy response to the allegation which he has called libellous and defamatory.

"While it has gone against every grain of my nature not to immediately speak and write against falsehoods and distortions imposed upon the public, I have been advised by many individuals, wiser and more experienced than I in these matters, to wait until calmer heads, including my own, prevailed."

In his statement Krauss addresses three questions:

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• nzherald.com
• twitter.com
• nytimes.com
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The four, from the cardinal's archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, complained to apostolic nuncio Archbishop Antonio Mennini days before Pope Benedict's unexpected resignation.

The allegations were then publicised in The Observer newspaper, apparently because the complainants did not want Cardinal O'Brien to attend the conclave to elect the new pope.

While he contests the accusations, Cardinal O'Brien said he apologised to anyone he had let down and said he did not want the controversy to overshadow the election of the new pope.

Cardinal O'Brien had been due to retire on March 17, when he turns 75. His immediate resignation means the cardinal will not now take part in the election of a successor to Pope Benedict.

One complainant said he was a seminarian when the cardinal, then his spiritual director, made an inappropriate approach after night prayers.

He later resigned from the priesthood when the cardinal became a bishop. "I knew then he would always have power over me. It was assumed I left the priesthood to get married. I did not. I left to preserve my integrity."

The three priests made similar complaints, one saying he found himself dealing with unwanted behaviour after a late-night drinking session.

"You have to understand," explains the ex-priest, "the relationship between a bishop and a priest. At your ordination, you take a vow to be obedient to him.

"He's more than your boss, more than the CEO of your company. He has immense power over you. He can move you, freeze you out, bring you into the fold…he controls every aspect of your life. You can't just kick him in the balls."

Only a few days before the allegations were published, Cardinal O'Brien said the church's requirement for priests to be celibate was not of "divine origin" and should be reconsidered.

"Many priests have found it very difficult to cope with celibacy as they lived out their priesthood, and felt the need of a companion, of a woman, to whom they could get married and raise a family of their own," he told the BBC.

Sources:

The Observer

The Observer

Associated Press

BBC

Image: The Independent