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	Pennsylvania: Bennison Trial Witnesses Concerned by Review Court Verdict Episcopal Life August 23 2010 http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_124178_ENG_HTM.htm Five witnesses who testified at the trial of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison have expressed "great sorrow" that a review court verdict has enabled him to return to work despite agreeing that he failed to respond appropriately when he had reason to believe that his brother, John Bennison, was engaged in sexual misconduct with a young girl in his parish. The letter, which was addressed to the people of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, members of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies and Episcopalians everywhere, was signed by Martha Alexis, the abuse victim; Julia Alexis, her mother; Maggie Thompson, John Bennison's ex-wife, to whom he was married when the abuse began; and two other witnesses. Bennison resumed his role as bishop after the church's Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop overturned a lower court's finding that he ought to be deposed (removed) from ordained ministry because he had engaged in conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy. The review court agreed with one of the lower court's two findings of misconduct, but said that Bennison could not be deposed because the charge was barred by the church's statute of limitations. "The statute of limitations regarding sexual abuse needs to be removed entirely," the letter said. "The crime of complicity and cover-up needs to be regarded as equal in seriousness to that committed by the perpetrator because it allows the abuse to continue. Further, in matters of clergy sexual abuse, there needs to be a church-wide mechanism that supersedes the autonomy of individual diocesan bishops. At stake are the safety of the people and the credibility of the Episcopal Church as a whole." The review court said that Bennison failed to respond properly in the mid-1970s when he was rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, and learned that his brother, who worked initially as a lay youth minister in the parish, had been having a sexual relationship with a member of the youth group that began when she was 14 years old. John Bennison was later ordained a priest but deposed in 1977 for an unrelated offense. He was restored to the priesthood in 1980, but was forced to renounce his orders again in 2006 when accusations of his abuse became public. The witnesses noted in their letter that they were "particularly concerned" that Charles Bennison "stated publicly at trial that he still believes that he acted appropriately in this matter and would take the same approach again if called to do so. "He has learned nothing," they said. "To our great sorrow, this ruling illustrates that we cannot assume that clergy will protect the vulnerable or that our churches are safe sanctuaries. Episcopalians, be watchful for signs of sexual misconduct and abuse of power. Do not blindly think you are safe." Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori inhibited Bennison in October 2007 from exercising his ordained ministry when the church's Title IV Review Committee formally accused him of the inaction. The inhibition expired with the review court's decision. Bennison returned to the diocesan offices on Aug. 16 amid calls for his retirement or resignation, notably from the Standing Committee, which had been the ecclesiastical authority during Bennison's inhibition. "We do not believe that Bishop Bennison has the trust of the clergy and lay leaders necessary for him to be an effective pastor and leader of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, nor that he can regain or rebuild the trust that he has lost or broken," the Standing Committee said in a letter posted to the diocese's website on Aug. 16. "We believe that it would be in the best interest of the diocese that Bishop Bennison not resume his exercise of authority here." The Standing Committee has been at odds with Bennison since the mid-2000s over concerns about how he managed the diocese's assets and other issues. More than once in the past it has called for Bennison's resignation. Leaders of two major Pennsylvania parishes have also called on Bennison to resign. In their letter, the witnesses had a message for "the faithful in Pennsylvania: Do not be disheartened; the story is not over. It was here in your city ... that we survivors were given opportunity to finally be heard. We were offered compassion and dignity. We are adamant that our church is not solely the clergy, or the buildings, or the canon laws. It is absolutely the people and the love of Christ. Through you, the Episcopal Church has the opportunity to speak out in faith to make its people safe, and to expect, and to demand, that its clergy, including bishops, stay true to their vows of ordination."
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