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	Exclusives : Pennsylvania: Bennison's Desperate Bid to Hold on to Power By David W. Virtue News Analysis August 12, 2008 http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8837 The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania and four of his victims have issued public statements saying that the inhibited Bishop of Pennsylvania should be deposed for engaging in conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy. He should never again be allowed to lead a diocese or fill a pulpit, they say. The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr., 64, was recently found guilty in a public trial on two counts. The first count was for failing to respond properly after learning that his brother, John Bennison, a newly-ordained deacon whom he had hired as youth minister, was "engaged in a sexually abusive and sexually exploitive relationship" with a 14-year-old parishioner in 1973. The second count was for suppressing the information about his brother until 2006. Bishop Bennison described the relationship to the ecclesiastical court as "yet another affair" in his parish. A resolution, by the full Standing Committee of the Diocese following his trial, said the majority of its members favored the full and final removal of Bennison without the possibility of his return to serve in the diocese. They sent out the following statement calling for these punitive steps: His immediate resignation from the office of Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. (This was an alternative to deposition which Bennison rejected.) A majority of the standing committee had voted for deposition. The minority just wanted him out as Bishop of Pennsylvania. Suspension for a term co-extensive with his mandatory retirement age. Mrs. Jefferts Schori said she would accept this as an alternative to deposition. The Presiding Bishop also believed the following should take place: That Charles be permanently prohibited from the exercise of any clerical acts within the Diocese of Pennsylvania and that he be permanently barred from any communication with any member of the clergy or lay person in the Diocese of Pennsylvania regarding any matter pertaining to the affairs of the Diocese or any institution thereof. The sentencing document, dated July 30, said that Bishop Bennison's persistent denial of wrongdoing was pivotal in reaching the decision to remove him from service in the clergy. "Bishop Bennison's inability to accept the fundamental wrongfulness of his own misconduct is a critical factor - the most critical factor, the determining factor - to consider in fashioning an appropriate sentence," the document reads. "Any clergy member who, in his testimony before this Court, could characterize the statutory rape of a youth by the youth group leader as 'yet another affair' and use that fact as grounds for keeping it a secret is unfit to continue as a member of the clergy," reads the Standing Committee's statement. James Parabue, the bishop's lawyer, said when the verdict was reached that if Bennison is guilty, so are the "actions of numerous Episcopal bishops, priests, officials and lay members who knew of Bishop Bennison's conduct as early as 1979 and who for 28 years never felt that his conduct was improper and warranted charges being brought against him during that time." The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori however, disagreed. In a sentencing document, she said, "In light of the nature and seriousness of the charges involving Bishop Bennison and the Court's finding of his responsibility, Bishop Bennison should not be permitted to resume his episcopate in the Diocese of Pennsylvania under any circumstances. "The Court's finding, as well as the evidence regarding his credibility and lack of appropriate pastoral sensitivity presented at the trial, demonstrates that he could not effectively lead the Diocese again. Nor, under these circumstances, could he play an effective role as a bishop in another diocese, either now or in the future." While the Court of Review has the final say on his sentence, it is unlikely they will go against the will of the stony-faced Jefferts Schori who is known to run her New York office with a rod of iron. The Court is expected to make a sentencing ruling after Aug. 15, when statements concerning the sentence from both sides are due. The inhibited bishop can appeal the sentence within 30 days to the Court of Review of the Trial of a Bishop. This court consists of nine Bishops elected by the House of Bishops. The Presiding Judge of the Court of Review, upon receiving the Notice of Appeal, has 60 days to hear the appeal. No new evidence would be permitted in the hearing. The Standing Committee is getting support from a number of sources. A statement by Barbara Dorris, St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests wrote saying, "We wholeheartedly agree with Episcopalian officials: Bishop Charles Bennison has forfeited his right to be a religious leader. Ignoring or shielding a child predator is inexcusable. Ousting Bennison will make sure he'll never again protect a child predator, and will deter similar recklessness by other church figures. We are sad but not surprised that even now, Bennison refuses to admit wrong-doing. Like so many corrupt church officials, he's still trotting out the hollow, inexcusable excuse "Others did it too" defense. This makes severely punishing him even more crucial. Those who acknowledge their failings may sometimes be able to continue as effective pastors. But those who won't simply cannot function as true spiritual guides for others." Four victims have stepped forward with statements pleading with the court to make a sentence commensurate with the guilty verdict of the court. The most dramatic and moving testimony was that of Johanna Alexis Oslovar who wrote, "I was a victim of Charles E. Bennison. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I AM a victim of Charles E. Bennison. As much as I would like to believe that I am free from being victimized, my present reality tells a different story. I am still fighting for justice and accountability. I still have to tend old and new emotional wounds, and I am still hostage to the abuse that John Wm. Bennison perpetrated, and that Charles E. Bennison allowed to continue. As a hostage of sexual abuse and cover up by the Bennisons, I long for freedom, wholeness and restoration. "I need to heal. My family needs to heal. For that to happen, I need Charles Bennison permanently removed from ministry." In equally poignant testimony, Maggie Thompson wrote, "My recommendation is that his sentence be one of permanent deposition from the priesthood. Since the 1970's, and continuing to the present day, his inactions and actions have had a profound impact on me, affecting my life in the church, my spirituality, and my emotional well-being. The impact also extends to my loved ones." Bennison does have some supporters. They include attorney Bill Bullitt, Rev. Harry N. White, Martha Dunn Kirkley, Lindsay Clemons, Richard C . Alton, Bernard Macguire, Dean and President of Seabury Western Seminary Gary Hall (whose seminary is closing down most of its program for lack of students) and Barbara Bernardi Alton who said Bennison faced a barrage of criticism for steadily advancing key goals for the Diocese set by several diocesan conventions. She blamed the Standing Committee for setting up their own website, legal counsel and holding private meetings which "became disturbingly secretive and withdrawn." She directly blamed the Standing Committee for their "sustained, prodigious efforts to effect his (Bennison's) removal." In Bennison's defense, attorney Pabarue wrote a 20-page memo arguing that Bennison expressed responsibility and sorrow for his inactions in response to his brother's sexual misconduct, that he has been punished enough by being inhibited and having to go through a public trial and by having to meet legal expenses which he said is the equivalent of half his pension. There is a certain amount of irony here. Bennison complained about being inhibited without a trial - something that he denied to Fr. David Moyer an Anglo-Catholic priest, inhibiting and deposing him without offering the traditionalist priest a chance to defend himself on charges that he abandoned the communion of the church. Moyer later asked Bennison to state if he could defend a number of basic doctrines of the Christian Faith essential to being a Christian. Bennison would not. Bennison also reneged on a promise to allow seven traditionalist rectors a flying bishop, a promise he made while canvassing for the position of Bishop of Pennsylvania. He now faces a civil trial for fraud. Pabarue said there is no danger of Bennison repeating the conduct, which the court found was unbecoming. Yet, Bennison allowed a priest to remain in his parish after he pled guilty and paid a $300.00 fine for masturbating in a state park in front of two park rangers. Bennison argued he wasn't there to see it. Bennison's foremost detractors, however, are the Diocese's Standing Committee who filed their own complaint with the Title IV Review Committee calling for his dismissal. They said he usurped the authority of the Standing Committee in the use of income from properties Bennison sold off as parishes died. They further accused him of spending in excess of $10 million of unrestricted net assets of the diocese to purchase Camp Wapiti, and of systematically dismantling controls and oversight while expending funds that should have gone for the support of small parishes. The Title IV Review Committee threw out the charges saying that Bennison had not used the money personally for himself, an odd decision in that the Standing Committee never said he had used the money for himself. Why should he? Bennison's wife is worth an estimate $30 million dollars as an heir to a pharmaceutical company! Bennison's behavior and his narcissism were reflected at his trial in a Philadelphia hotel. As I was leaving the trial room following the trial, I glanced down the corridor and saw Bennison, Pabarue and a number of Bennison's camp followers laughing uproariously. Whatever the joke was, it was unbecoming the occasion - an occasion that should now see the end of a dysfunctional, diabolical, sociopathic man, who, if he could ever feel his guilt, would slink off into a place of solitude and begin a long season of repentance.
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