By Kerry Myers
Catholic Register
September 14, 2011
http://www.catholicregister.org/news/international/item/12958-controversy-swirls-around-australian-anglican-archbishops-abuse-claims
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| Archbishop John Hepworth addresses the ACCC Synod on the imperative of Christian unity in July 2010 |
The primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion said he left the Catholic priesthood years ago after being sexually abused as a seminarian and young priest in the 1960s and 1970s.
Archbishop John Hepworth, leader of the Traditional Anglican Communion, a breakaway group of Anglicans seeking membership in the Anglican ordinariate established by Pope Benedict XVI, told The Australian newspaper about his ordeal after he said his complaint against the one surviving alleged abuser was not investigated by the archdiocese of Adelaide.
Similar complaints filed against two now-deceased priests in the archdiocese of Melbourne led to a compensation payment to Hepworth, the newspaper reported.
The case became embroiled in controversy after an Australian senator publicly identified the accused living priest, despite privacy and legal concerns raised by Church officials.
Cardinal George Pell of Sydney joined the debate when he said that public confidence in the integrity of the Catholic Church's procedures in handling reports of clergy sex abuse is vital in obtaining justice for victims and all concerned parties.
Hepworth told The Australian that he filed a six-page formal complaint with Church officials in Adelaide in March 2008 and followed it up with several other detailed statements. When he inquired about the status of his case earlier this year, Hepworth said he was told the inquiry was still in a "preliminary stage" because he had not filed a formal complaint.
Hepworth, 67, said the abuse started in 1960, when he was 15 and enrolled at St. Francis Xavier Seminary in Adelaide, and continued for 12 years. He said two priests and a seminarian who went on to become ordained committed the abuse.
Despite his ordeal, Hepworth was ordained a Catholic priest and stayed with the Church until 1972, when he moved to England. He became an Anglican and then a priest in the Anglican Church, rising to his current position in the breakaway Traditional Anglican Communion.
Sen. Nick Xenophon fueled the story by naming the sole living priest as Msgr. Ian Dempsey, a parish priest in Brighton in the Adelaide archdiocese. Dempsey has denied the abuse claim.
Xenophon said he revealed the priest's name because the Adelaide archdiocese had refused to place Dempsey under administrative leave pending the outcome of its investigation.
The archdiocese, headed by Archbishop Philip Wilson, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, had asked the senator to refrain from naming the priest in the interest of justice. The archdiocese said in a statement after the priest was identified that it was "surprised and disappointed" by Xenophon's action.
"The fact that the senator has taken this action is a matter of grave concern to us because it has the potential to interfere with the orderly process of what is already a very difficult and complex matter," the statement said.
"In our view it is inappropriate and unfair for these matters to be aired in public whilst our investigation remains on foot and when the priest concerned has categorically denied the allegation."
Dempsey said in his own statement that he was aware of Hepworth's allegation, which he called unsubstantiated.
"I have made it clear in writing to the inquiry that I categorically deny the allegations, which I note are said to relate to events that occurred some 45 years ago and have nothing at all to do with underage people," he said.
In an earlier statement, the Adelaide archdiocese rejected "any suggestions that there has been no investigation, or a delayed investigation, of allegations made by Archbishop Hepworth."
"Contrary to suggestions made by Archbishop Hepworth, the process, which has been under way for some time, was specifically designed to cater (to) Archbishop Hepworth's understandable emotional sensitivity concerning this matter," a spokeswoman said.
In Sydney, Pell said he was "deeply sorry for his (Hepworth's) suffering and appalled at what he has experienced."
"The task now is to ensure that the complaint he has made to the Adelaide archdiocese is carried forward expeditiously according to the Church's Towards Healing protocol and the demands of natural justice. The public needs to be assured that the matter is being handled appropriately," he said.
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