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	Pastor Agrees to Resign over 1970s Abuse Bishop Says He Thought Diocese Punished Bennison before He Joined St. John's By John Simerman Contra Costa Times [California] June 12, 2006 http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/14798723.htm Clayton - Rev. John Bennison stood before his flock Sunday morning and, as he has done for nearly a quarter-century, surveyed the Episcopal faithful who filled the pews at Saint John's Parish. But this time, he swayed nervously in his white robe and cleric's collar. "OK," he exhaled, then paused. "We'll see if we can get through this." With that, Bennison spoke of a "controversy from outside" and "old allegations from my life 30 years ago" that made this sermon, on Trinity Sunday, his last. Bennison is leaving the priesthood under threat of being deposed over the sexual abuse of a teenage girl in the 1970s. This was how weeks of turmoil at Saint John's came to a close, as some parish members hugged in the aisles before the 9 a.m. service. It was the final chapter for a wrong that Bennison admitted but sought to pack away behind a career of spiritual leadership. On Sunday, he recounted his role as a religious adviser to hundreds, an overseer of countless weddings and funerals since he came to Saint John's in the early 1980s. "God has richly blessed us with the fruits of our labor," he said. Bennison, who is 58 and married with two children, has declined to discuss a sexual relationship that began in 1972, when he was a 28-year-old assistant at a Los Angeles-area parish. The girl was a parishioner half his age, according to a 1993 letter signed by Frederick Borsch, then bishop of the Los Angeles diocese. The relationship lasted four years, the letter said. Bennison says he already addressed the relationship with his congregation, that it was "openly dealt with" long ago. He described it last month to a Times reporter as "this old story." That story was resurrected this spring, when an advocacy group for clergy abuse victims protested repeatedly outside the church. Pressure came from Bishop William Swing, head of the Diocese of California, and from national church leaders aiming to tamp out a brewing controversy. Two weeks ago, Swing asked Bennison to step down, citing the impact on the church from a campaign to oust Bennison by a national advocacy group, Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, or SNAP. Under Episcopal law, bishops cannot depose priests themselves. A group of clergy or laity must initiate the process. Swing, who oversees 81 Bay Area churches, had supported Bennison since learning of the sexual abuse in 1993, 13 years after the priest came north from Los Angeles. Bennison was a "changed" man, and Swing saw no sign that he was a threat to anyone in the diocese, he wrote in a May 31 letter to church members. But in an interview with the Times, Swing said the bad publicity came at a fragile time for an Episcopal Church torn over a variety of issues, including gay and lesbian clergy. "I've heard from a lot of people from around the country who have weighed in on this," he said. "The Episcopal Church is pretty tender right now about matters of discipline. And this is one of those issues that just sends signals that discipline might not be consistent at this vulnerable time in history." Further, Swing said, until last week he thought that the Diocese of Los Angeles had deposed Bennison in the 1970s, and that he was restored in 1980 and then transferred to the Bay Area. That misunderstanding colored a decision in 1993, when Swing learned of the molestation, to let Bennison stay in Clayton and in the priesthood, the bishop said. Diocese leaders thought Bennison had already faced church discipline. Bennison said so himself. Removing him would amount to double jeopardy. "Everybody who looked at this thing in 1993 said you can't try a person twice for the same crime," said Swing. Last week, the bishop said, he learned that Bennison never was deposed, but renounced his priesthood. He then was reinstated three years later, in 1980. That meant he never underwent a full church accounting of his actions, never received what Swing called "an aggressive judgment." It also meant no double jeopardy; Bennison could be deposed now. "I wish that we had known what really happened in terms of discipline," said Swing. "I wish Los Angeles would have told me the whole story before he ever dug in and became a great person." Joey Piscitelli, a SNAP coordinator, called Swing's claim "a ridiculous statement" and said the bishop made a dangerous bet in allowing Bennison to remain as a priest after knowing of his past. "Of course they knew he wasn't deposed," Piscitelli said. "They've decided, 'Everybody's digging now, he wasn't deposed but we're going to do it now. The cat's out of the bag and we'd better come clean.'" Bennison, who never faced criminal charges, told about 120 parishioners Sunday that current and former church members have sent him supportive letters and e-mails, but also some that were "challenging" and "stinging." A Times reporter was asked to leave and escorted from the church as Bennison spoke. Bennison has sounded tones of being himself a victim of overzealous advocacy by a group that held protests outside his church and ignited media reports that put heat on church leaders. The group, Piscitelli said, was simply speaking for the anonymous victim, who saw little justice. "Her whole high school was having sex with this man," Piscitelli said. "That's not a normal life." Reach John Simerman at 925-943-8072 or jsimerman@cctimes.com.
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