A Reluctant Sinner
September 10, 2011
http://areluctantsinner.blogspot.com/2011/09/leader-of-traditional-anglican.html
 |
The Australian reported yesterday that the leader of the international Traditional Anglican Communion and the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia, Archbishop John Hepworth, left the Catholic priesthood in 1974 because of the sexual abuse he had suffered as a seminarian and young priest. The paper also reports that the Catholic Church in Melbourne has accepted that John Hepowrth suffered "many ... instances of sexual abuse by members of the clergy in South Australia" and has even offered him $75,000 (AUD) in compensation. The primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, who has only just broken his decades of silence, is now ready to forgive his abusers and is also keen become part of the personal ordinariate that was created by Pope Benedict XVI in his apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.
John Hepworth's story is a harrowing one, but goes a long way to explain his rather eccentric ecclesiastical history. In many ways, on the purely human level, one can easily understand why this man felt he had to leave the Catholic Church and the priesthood. His story also highlights the horrific nature of homosexual abuse within the priesthood and the Church's seminaries. As I have already mentioned on this blog, the homosexual super-culture that exists in some parts of the Church is probably one of the most serious threats to the modern priesthood. Sadly, I have come across many men who felt they had to leave seminaries either because of the "gay culture" prevalent in some of them, or because they had suffered unwanted or abusive advances at the hands of older students or priests.
From reading the story in The Australian, it is obvious that Archbishop John Hepworth didn't really want to leave the Catholic Church, but felt that his traditional Catholicism - and its morality - was being compromised by remaining within its priesthood. This probably explains why, after years working as a delivery driver and an Anglican priest in the UK, he eventually joined the break-away Traditional Anglican Communion. It also explains why he is now extremely keen to forgive those who harmed him and to accept the Pope's generous offer to Anglicans - including, one assumes, those who have left mainstream Anglicanism, such as members of the Traditional Anglican Communion.
According to The Australian, John Hepworth's abuse occurred whilst he was a seminarian in the 1960's and lasted 12 years, even beyond his ordination to the priesthood. It began when he joined Adelaide's St Francis Xavier Seminary in 1960, as a 15-year-old boy, and ended with a vicious rape on a beach in 1972. The perpetrators are alleged to have been two priests and an older seminarian. It seems that the two older clerics are now dead - one having died in a homosexual sex club - whilst the seminarian was ordained and is now a high ranking cleric within the Archdiocese of Adelaide. The Australian also reports that this alleged abuser is still working in a parish, four years after John Hepworth reported the abuse to the man's bishop.
One of the most disturbing aspects of Archbishop Hepworth's revelations is the allegation that one of his abusers tried to silence him by means of the Seal of the Confessional. It appears that, after his ordination, one of the abusers went to the then Fr Hepworth in order to confess his sins, which included the alleged sexual assault that had been perpetrated against him. It was this experience, plus the fear that his alleged abusers were going to blackmail him and the fact that one of the alleged homosexual rapists had gruesomely blasphemed Our Lady whilst committing his sexual crimes, that led John Hepworth to abandon the priesthood and the Catholic Church. It seems that this blasphemy against the Blessed Virgin has resulted in horrific memories of the abuse whenever John Hepworth prays the Rosary. Speaking to The Australian, Hepworth explains that he "fled in fear but I never wanted to leave [the priesthood / Church]. The church is full of sinners ... but it is God's gift to the human race through Jesus Christ ... I have never lost the sense of vocation of being a priest."
John Hepworth eventually left Australia and moved to Britain, where he worked for some time as a delivery man for a well-known pharmacy. He then became and Anglican priest, but later moved back to the country of his birth and joined the break-away group that he now leads. Four years ago, whilst possibly exploring the the potential of reaching full communion with Rome, Hepworth wrote to the Archbishop of Adelaide, stating that he did not seek "retribution" for the crimes committed against him. He did add, though, that he felt "deeply cheated of a priestly life that I have been exercising as it were by subterfuge, outside the communion of the Catholic Church". As mentioned above, it seems from the article in The Australian that the Archdiocese of Adelaide's response was not very supportive or pro-active.
It also appears that Archbishop Hepworth wrote to the Archdiocese of Melbourne around the same time, as one of its priests, the late Ronald Pickering, was one of the alleged abusers. In contrast with Adelaide, Melbourne's Independent Commissioner, Peter O'Callaghan QC, processed and resolved John Hepworth's complaint against Pickering in little more than a year. The Australian reports that "Mr O'Callaghan also accepted that Archbishop Hepworth suffered 'many other instances of sexual abuse by members of the clergy in South Australia'". The paper also relates how John Hepworth now praises the way his complaint was dealt with by the Archdiocese of Melbourne - something he attributes to the good work of Cardinal George Pell, former Archbishop of Melbourne. The leader of the world's group of so-called Traditional Anglicans has now received a personal apology from the current Archbishop of Melbourne, Most Rev Denis Hart, for the "wrongs and hurt you have suffered at the hands of Father Ronald Pickering."
One of the most shocking aspects of the abuse suffered by John Hepworth concerns "documents" found by The Australian that "show he tried to discuss the problem with a senior member of the seminary, who threatened that any mention of sexual experiences could disqualify him from ordination. Adelaide's then-auxiliary bishop Philip Kennedy, who has since died, later warned him that if any of his friends were implicated in complaints, he would 'destroy' him." Sadly, this is how it can sometimes be inside the clerical "gay super-culture", as was recently demonstrated in a series of allegations relating to a certain period in the recent history of the Archdiocese of Miami.
The Australian's article goes into quite a lot of detail concerning the homosexual abuse suffered by John Hepworth. Even though this might be distressing to read, the piece succeeds in shedding light on this man's struggles - he has been twice divorced - and provides understandable reasons for Hepworth's decision to leave the Catholic Church. The article also reveals why the leader of the Traditional Anglican Communion is now so desperate to be received into full communion with Rome.
John Hepworth obviously loves the Church, even though some priests have caused him lasting emotional damage. He is also very aware of the risks posed by an overly homosexually orientated clergy. In that sense, he is witness to the inherent dangers that can be associated with the so-called clerical "gay culture". Hepworth's story is also an extremely valuable account of how one man's love for Christ and his Church can - in time, and by God's grace - overcome the enormous pain and distress caused by the heinous sins of those who were supposed to have been responsible for "the care of souls".
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.