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	Exclusives : the Morally and Spiritually Bankrupt Diocese of Pennsylvania By David W. Virtue Virtue Online May 27, 2008 http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8323 Recently, the Diocese of Pennsylvania met for prayer to pray for...well exactly who should they pray for? They decided to pray for Charles E. Bennison, the inhibited Bishop of Pennsylvania - a bishop who faces fraud in a civil court and ecclesiastical charges that he covered up his brother's sexual abuse of a minor. At least one layman thought this was over the top and wrote, "While Charles is named in this prayer, no specific reference is made to the 14-year-old victim, her family, or Maggie Thompson, then the wife of (the Rev.) John Bennison." Nor, he said, was there any request made for courage for those who will be testifying. "Remember, this is not an 'alleged' crime. Both John Bennison and Charles have confessed to it. What on earth were the framers of this prayer thinking when they wrote this?" wrote Ray Kraftson, a concerned orthodox layman in the diocese. "This is yet another example of the continuing mindless thinking of many clergy who live in mortal fear of the return of Charles as Diocesan. Couched in soothing words, it is an insult to those people who suffered unimaginably and those who came here and courageously exposed this travesty and will be returning at the convenience of the Church to confirm their previous statements. Let us all pray for them." "Charles must be regarded as something other than a victim. He is more accurately to be depicted as a perpetrator of a cover-up, but not a victim needing prayer. There were dozens of opportunities for him to address this in various different ways", said the Rev. Marek P. Zabriskie, St Thomas, Whitemarsh near Philadelphia. Said one observer, "This reminds me of the movie 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. As the British doctor watches the British colonel trying to help the Japanese save the bridge, he cries 'madness/madness'". A group of clergy and others in the Diocese, led by the Rev. Ledlie Laughlin produced the following litany approved by the Standing Committee. It was adapted from "A Litany for Reconciliation" by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and became the Litany for the Diocese. THE LITANY We pray for the Church, that through its many voices, Christ's call to repentance will always be heard. Silence Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer. For the clergy, the leaders and members of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, that we will listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through one another and show forth your compassion to each other and to the world. Silence Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer. For our Diocese, strained by conflict, that trusting in God's guiding and sustaining love, we will seek reconciliation. Silence Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer. For Charles, our Bishop and his wife Joan, that they may be comforted by your healing and sustaining presence. Silence Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer. For the members of the church Trial Court, that they may be filled with your wisdom, compassion and justice. Silence Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer. For release from anxiety, that we may have confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit, working in us, to reconcile and heal. Silence Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer. For all victims of abuse and neglect, especially children, that they may be freed from despair and pain, feel the healing power of your love, and become whole. Silence Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer. For all who work with survivors of abuse, that they may be vehicles of your compassion, mercy and healing. Silence Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer. God of all mercy, loosen the bonds that entrap us, Release us from every power that seeks to divide us, and hear the soul's cry for healing and forgiveness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. That Litany/Prayer should be disavowed. The Standing Committee is not a mover in this Church Trial, said Joe Madison a member of Concerned Pennsylvania Episcopalians (CPE). "The Inhibited Charles Bennison stands accused of most serious violations of Church Law and his vows. He has admitted his complicity in covering up his brother, John's crimes. Repeatedly over the last three decades, he has not only covered up his brother's sexual abuses, but has protected both his brother's priestly career, as well as, his own career in the Episcopal Church. Our simple prayers should be for God's Justice in this matter. This artifice of a Litany should be rejected. There should be no comfort for Charles Bennison," said Madison who is also "Parish Life Coordinator" for Holy Nativity Episcopal Church in Rockledge, PA. The Rev. Gregory Brewer, a known conservative and rector of The Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, the largest parish in the Diocese of Pennsylvania said, "It is a GLARING omission that there are not prayers offered for Charles/John's victim or her family; nor are there any prayers offered for those who will be called to testify." On June 9, Bennison is scheduled to go on trial in Philadelphia on charges that he concealed his brother's sexual abuse of a minor, decades ago. Bennison, 64, was pastor of a California parish in the early 1970s when he hired his brother, John Bennison, as its youth minister. John Bennison soon began a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl that lasted several years. Last year, the girl's family complained that Charles Bennison knew of the abuse, but did not act to prevent it, and failed to inform his superiors when John Bennison sought ordination. John Bennison resigned from the priesthood in 2006 after a Los Angeles TV station, and later VirtueOnline brought the bishop's abusive actions to the attention of Episcopalians and Anglicans worldwide.
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