BishopAccountability.org
	Adelaide Archbishop: Senator's Interference in Abuse Case Was "Unjust" By Kerry Myers U.S. Catholic September 15, 2011 http://www.uscatholic.org/news/2011/09/adelaide-archbishop-senators-interference-abuse-case-was-unjust An Australian archbishop criticized a senator for interfering in an alleged sexual abuse case, calling the move "unfair and unjust." Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide also denied that the archdiocese had dragged its feet on the investigation, saying he was responding to requests from the accuser, Archbishop John Hepworth, leader of the Traditional Anglican Communion, who repeatedly said he was not emotionally prepared to pursue the issue. Archbishop Hepworth, whose breakaway group of Anglicans is seeking membership in the Anglican ordinariate established by Pope Benedict XVI, told The Australian newspaper in mid-September that he left the Catholic priesthood decades ago after being sexually abused as a seminarian and young priest in the 1960s and 1970s. The Archdiocese of Melbourne compensated him for his complaint against two priests, now deceased, but he talked to the press after he said his allegation against the one surviving priest was not investigated by the Archdiocese of Adelaide. Then Sen. Nick Xenophon, representing South Australia, became involved, saying the surviving priest was Msgr. Ian Dempsey, a parish priest in Brighton. "I am deeply distressed that Sen. Xenophon has named the priest in Parliament," Archbishop Wilson said Sept. 15. "There was no need for him to do so, especially when this would appear not to have been Archbishop Hepworth's wish." He said the senator "was not even prepared to sit down and talk to our legal advisers about the matter when the invitation was extended to him." "Aside from that, the distress to the parish is enormous. What has happened is unfair and unjust," Archbishop Wilson said. "There have never been any suggestions of danger to people in the parish having the priest present, and the investigation is well under way," he added. "The damage to the priest's reputation is obvious and severe and -- in my opinion -- this serves to undermine the presumption of innocence which all of us are entitled to enjoy." Msgr. Dempsey has denied the allegations while taking a month's leave from his parish. Archbishop Wilson said that he stood on his record as a bishop in the way he has responded to issues of abuse in the church. "Regarding Archbishop Hepworth, let me say that from the moment he came to present his allegations of abuse to the church, he has been responded to with the utmost care and sensitivity," he said. He said his vicar general, acting on his behalf, had met with Archbishop Hepworth "on multiple occasions since 2007." He said that, each time they met, the vicar general asked Archbishop Hepworth for his permission to "proceed with an investigation in the allegations. On each occasion, Archbishop Hepworth declined, indicating that he was not in a proper emotional state to deal with an inquiry. "Sensitive as we must be to the needs of complainants, we adhered to his request. He was also informed that if he was alleging any form of abuse, including rape, that this is a criminal offense and should be reported to the police. "He has consistently declined to do so, but I add that we have not been critical of him about this. "We understand only too well the difficulty associated with making these types of decisions. It was not until we received a letter from him in late February 2011 that Archbishop Hepworth indicated that he was ready to proceed." The archbishop said that his concern now was to "ensure the investigation continues, and that it remains transparent and independent and that it is brought to a speedy conclusion in a normal and appropriate way." Archbishop Hepworth claims he left the Catholic priesthood and left Australia for London after years of sexual abuse, including rape. Copyright (c) 2011 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops There was a problem loading Disqus. For more information, please visit status.disqus.com. U.S. Catholic insists on a civil and respectful dialogue on our website, following our Comment policy. Comments should be charitable, on topic, and brief. U.S. Catholic reserves the right to delete comments deemed inappropriate. We encourage you to choose your words wisely.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.