For those who are interested, Father Chadwick at the English Catholic has links to a host of stories about a report from the Archdiocese of Adelaide, saying the rape charges made by Archbishop John Hepworth have no validity. A sample, from this article in the Australian:
Traditional Anglican Communion Archbishop John Hepworth said earlier this year he had been the victim of violent rapes by three priests that began in 1960, when he was 15.
Senator Nick Xenophon named Adelaide priest Monsignor Ian Dempsey as one of the rapists under federal parliamentary privilege, saying the Catholic Church had taken too long to investigate.
However Adelaide Archbishop Wilson said today an independent inquiry by Michael Abbott QC had found there was no substance to the allegations.
The investigation included interviews with 29 witnesses, many of whom were present at the time the events were alleged to have occurred, and examination of a large number of documents including those dating back to the relevant period, Archbishop Wilson said.
“I am satisfied that Mr Abbott examined every aspect of the allegations raised by Archbishop Hepworth,” he said in a statement.
Archbishop Wilson said Mr Abbott also found there was no basis to Senator Xenophon's criticism of the Archdiocese's handling of the complaint.
“He found the matter was handled in a completely appropriate and professional way ... and in accordance with proper procedures and sensitivity towards Archbishop Hepworth.”
Here's the latest from The Australian, in which Hepworth fires back:
Archbishop Hepworth, who was first a Catholic and then an Anglican priest and is now the primate of the breakaway TAC, said no other victim of clerical abuse could feel safe after the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide's handling of his complaints.
"No victim in the world will be safe after this type of attack," he said. "Given that so many perpetrators of abuse were moved from diocese to diocese this process leaves the way open for findings in favour of victims in one diocese to be reconsidered by another diocese and overturned.
"I was told I would have to bear the costs of bringing witnesses before the inquiry, which I could not afford and I was also told that no witnesses would be indemnified.
"Adelaide's process, as far as we can discover, was a retrial of the Melbourne process."
Mr Hepworth had accused three priests of raping him.
The Melbourne process, conducted by the Archdiocese of Melbourne's independent commissioner, Peter O'Callaghan QC, earlier this year resolved his complaint against the late Ronald Pickering of Melbourne. Mr Hepworth received $75,000 compensation and an apology on behalf of the archdiocese from Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart.
Mr O'Callaghan also accepted that Mr Hepworth suffered "many other instances of sexual abuse by members of the clergy in South Australia".
But barrister Michael Abbott, QC, who conducted the inquiry for the Catholic Church in Adelaide, found there was "no substance to the allegations".
South Australian independent senator Nick Xenophon, who named Monsignor Dempsey in parliament, said the process used by the Catholic Church was a "whitewash that was deeply flawed and lacked credibility".
"The Adelaide Archdiocese of the Catholic Church should hang their head in shame," Senator Xenophon said. "How can this be credible when no evidence was heard from the person that made the allegations?"
No comments:
Post a Comment