AUSTRALIA
ABC News
The 11th Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, John Harrower, has announced his retirement after 15 years in the job.
Bishop Harrower will formally leave the position on September 12.
He said it was time for him to bring his leadership of the church to a close.
“It seemed like 15 years was a good innings and we’ve absolutely enjoyed the time here,” Bishop Harrower said.
“There have been exciting times and there have been challenging times too.
“The issue of sexual abuse in the church and seeking to understand and being taught and helped by survivors of abuse to understand what really happened, and then to seek to respond in love and to walk with them in some way.”
Bishop Harrower said he took the issue of sexual abuse at the hands of priests very seriously from the moment he took office.
“[I made] an apology, in my very first media conference as Bishop of Tasmania, to survivors, victims of sexual abuse,” he said.
“And then way back in 2002, 13 years ago, I called for a Royal Commission.”
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