Court for the Trial of a Bishop Issues Two-Count Judgment
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
Episcopal Life
June 26, 2008
http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_98300_ENG_HTM.htm
[Episcopal News Service] An ecclesiastical court has found that Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison engaged in conduct unbecoming of a member of the clergy.
Bennison, 64, faced two counts of the charge. The first count of the presentment that formed the basis of a recent four-day trial dealt said that 35 years ago when Bennison, as rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, failed to respond properly after learning that his brother, John Bennison, a 24-year-old newly-ordained deacon whom he had hired as youth minister, was "engaged in a sexually abusive and sexually exploitive relationship" with a 14-year-old parishioner. The abuse lasted for more than three years.
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| Charles E. Bennison Jr. |
The presentment also said Charles Bennison failed to discharge his pastoral obligations to the girl, the members of her family, and the members of the parish youth group after he learned of his brother's behavior.
The second charge accused him of suppressing the information about his brother until 2006 when he disclosed publicly what he knew. John Bennison, who having once renounced his orders and later succeeded in being reinstated as a priest, was forced to again renounce his orders in 2006 when knowledge of the abuse became public. The second count also accused Charles Bennison of "fail[ing] to minister to people who he understood to have been injured by his brother's conduct."
On June 25, the nine-member Episcopal Church's Court for the Trial of a Bishop unanimously convicted Bennison on the first count and six of the members voted to convict him on the second count. Canon IV.5.25 of the church's Constitution and Canons requires an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the court.
Next steps in the canonical process
Bennison, the victim, her mother and brother, Lawrence White (the church attorney who acted as prosecutor for the Episcopal Church) and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori now have until July 30 "to offer matters in excuse or mitigation or to otherwise comment" on the sentence that the court will impose. That sentence can range from an admonition to deposition. Canon IV.5.28 says the Court for a Trial of a Bishop may hold a hearing on any comments that are made before agreeing on a sentence by a two-thirds majority vote and imposing it on Bennison.
He will then have 30 days to ask for a modification of the sentence. If Bennison makes such a request, the court must hold a hearing, according to Canon IV.5.30(b).
After receiving what is known as the final judgment, Bennison can appeal within 30 days to the Court of Review of the Trial of a Bishop, a different court made up of nine bishops elected by the House of Bishops. Canon IV.6 outlines the appeal process.
Jefferts Schori inhibited Bennison from all ordained ministry on October 30 after the Title IV Review Committee issued the two-count presentment against him. The Standing Committee of the diocese met October 30 and consented to the inhibition, as is required by Title IV, Canon 1, Section 6.
The Standing Committee, now the ecclesiastical authority in the diocese, issued a statement late in the day June 25 saying it "shares in the grief of the victims and all whose lives have been impacted by these events."
"Our prayers and thoughts are with those affected by the trial and the verdict," the statement continued. "We pray for healing for all. The canonical process is long and far from over."
Bennison's defense to the court
On the fourth and final day of the trial earlier this month, Bennison told the court that he would do nothing different than what he did when he learned that his younger brother seduced the 14-year-old girl in his parish. He testified that he was made aware of the situation shortly before John's ordination as priest. He said he confronted him but John denied repeatedly any improper conduct. The bishop said he ordered John to leave the church, but it was two more months before his brother departed, while continuing his abuse of the girl.
Bennison admitted under cross examination that he felt "a little bit" uncomfortable, but maintained that he knew of no impediment or criminal action to prevent John's ordination. As a result, he testified, he presented his brother for ordination by his father, Bishop Charles Bennison Sr., at a service in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The court was told that John Bennison, married and 10 years older than the girl, seduced other women at St. Mark's Upland, California, and at least two others in the next parish in Santa Barbara where he was a curate.
The Court for the Trial of a Bishop consists of five bishops, two priests and two adult lay communicants: Bishop Andrew Smith of Connecticut (Chair); Bishop Bruce Caldwell of Wyoming; Bishop Gordon Scruton of Western Massachusetts; Bishop George Wayne Smith of Missouri; Bishop Catherine Waynick of Indianapolis; the Rev. Marjorie Menaul, Diocese of Central Pennsylvania; the Rev. Karen Anita Brown Montagno, Diocese of Massachusetts; Maria Campbell, Birmingham, Alabama; and Jane R. Freeman, Akron, Ohio.
On June 20, the Pennsylvania Standing Committee learned that the Title IV Review Committee had decided not to issue a presentment against Bennison for what the Standing Committee said was his repeated usurpation of its "canonical prerogatives and authority." The Standing Committee made their allegations to Jefferts Schori by way of a "verified complaint" which David Booth Beers, chancellor to Presiding Bishop, sent to the Title IV Review Committee at her request.
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