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  Bishop Declines Request to Resign; SNAP Responds

By Barbara Dorris
SNAP
September 24, 2010

http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_statements/2010_statements/092310_bishop_declines_request_to_resign_snap_responds.htm

(America’s Episcopal bishops have formally urged PA Bishop Charles Bennison to resign, because Bennison ignored and concealed his brother’s child sex crimes. Late yesterday, Bennison said he would NOT step down.)

Bishop Charles Bennison insists on rubbing even more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of clergy sex abuse victims by minimizing their suffering and selfishly clinging to his personal power and prestige.

Three time in his short, formal statement, Bennison refers to hurtful and illegal child sex crimes as a “relationship.” When an adult sexually violates a child, it is a devastating crime. Calling it “a relationship” is, at best, sorely misguided. At worst, it is insulting and degrading, implying that a child somehow consented in his or her own victimization.

If I rob a bank, even repeatedly, no one talks of my “financial relationship” with that institution. No adult should ever diminish the horror of abuse or cast doubt about who’s responsible for it by using words like “relationship” to describe it.

Bennison claims to care about his brother’s victim: “If there were any way that I could help her now, I would do so." He also claims that his resignation "will not ease her pain or remove the sting of the abusive relationship."

In fact, his brother’s victim HAS urged Bennison to resign, via an on line petition that she signed and has been mentioned in numerous media stories about Bennison’s scandal. And many other clergy sex abuse victims find it healing and comforting when those who ignore or conceal child sex crimes are held responsible, ousted or step aside.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/retirebishopcharlesbennison/

If Bennison insists on staying, we strongly urge him to work hard to close the absurd loophole in Episcopal policies ('canons') that enabled him to be restored to his post because of an archaic, arbitrary and predator-friendly statute of limitations.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 22 years and have more than 10,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com), Peter Isely (414-429-7259, peterisely@yahoo.com), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=13300

PENNSYLVANIA: Bishop declines request to resign

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, Episcopal News Service, September 22, 2010

Saying he has "always been, innocent of the charges against me," Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison announced late Sept. 22 that he would not honor his colleagues' request that he resign his position.

Bennison, via a statement e-mailed to Episcopal News Service by his publicist, said that he hoped "the suffering I have endured during the past three years has strengthened me and will enable me to work for reconciliation within the diocese."

The House of Bishops announced their request at the end of their Sept. 16-21 fall gathering in Phoenix, Arizona. In a lengthy and strongly worded "mind of the house" resolution, they said they were "profoundly troubled by the outcome of the disciplinary action" against Bennison, and had concluded that his "capacity to exercise the ministry of pastoral oversight is irretrievably damaged."

"Therefore, we exhort Charles, our brother in Christ, in the strongest possible terms, to tender his immediate and unconditional resignation as the bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania," the bishops said.

"We will continue to pray for Charles, his family, and every person who has been hurt by the church," the bishops said.

Bennison replied in his statement that he appreciated the prayers of his peers in the house of Bishops "and understand that they are concerned for the welfare of my soul."

"However, they have no cause to be worried," he said.

The Rev. Glenn Matis, president of the Standing Committee, told ENS late Sept. 22 that he was "not surprised by Bishop Bennison's statement."

"He has made it crystal-clear to us that he will not resign or retire," he said in an e-mailed statement. "The only hope we have is that when he reaches the mandatory age of 72, he will resign or retire. This diocese is facing major issues of finances, property, and declining church membership. Under his leadership, it is a just matter of time before we are facing serious financial problems. His continued presence among us will further divide the diocese."

Bennison, 66, resumed his role as diocesan bishop Aug. 16, some 11 days after the church's Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop overturned a lower church court's finding that he ought to be deposed (removed) from ordained ministry because he had engaged in conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy. The review court agreed with one of the lower court's two findings of misconduct, but said that Bennison could not be deposed because the charge was barred by the church's statute of limitations.

Episcopal Church canons have no time limit for bringing claims arising out of physical violence, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a person younger than 21 years (Canon IV.19.4(a) and (b). The statute of limitations on other offenses committed by clergy is 10 years, with certain exceptions extending the time period by a small number of additional years.

The decision by the Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop is here.

The lower court, the Court for the Trial of a Bishop, had called for Bennison's deposition after it found that 35 years ago when he was rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, he failed to respond properly after learning that his brother, John Bennison, was "engaged in a sexually abusive and sexually exploitive relationship" with a minor parishioner. At the time, John Bennison was a 24-year-old newly ordained deacon (later priest) whom Charles Bennison had hired as youth minister. The abuse allegedly lasted for more than three years from the time the minor was 14 years old.

Charles Bennison was found to have failed to discharge his pastoral obligations to the girl, the members of her family, and the members of the parish youth group as well as church authorities after he learned of his brother's behavior. The court said that he suppressed the information about his brother until 2006, when he disclosed publicly what he knew.

Bennison had been inhibited (prevented) from exercising his ordained ministry since the fall of 2007 when the disciplinary action began. The ban expired with the review court's decision.

"I have deep compassion for the young woman who was abused," Bennison said in his statement. "If I could have prevented that abuse, I would certainly have done so. But I did not know of the relationship until it was over, and I can not pretend otherwise."

"I have nothing but affection for her and for her parents, whom I loved very much, and if there were any way that I could help her now, I would do so," he said, but added that his resignation "will not ease her pain or remove the sting of the abusive relationship." The bishop concluded that he hoped that "the members of the diocese and I can put the past behind us and work together to achieve our goals."

In the middle of the House of Bishops' meeting, an article about the tension in the diocese appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. It quotes Bennison as calling the efforts to depose him "Machiavellian," the charges against him "Kafka-esque," and his 2007 inhibition "craziness."

"Church leaders wanted him out, he surmised, because of his sometimes-divisive leadership style and controversial financial priorities," the paper reported.

The diocesan Standing Committee has been at odds with Bennison since the mid-2000s over concerns about how he managed the diocese's assets and other issues. More than once in the past the Standing Committee has called for Bennison's resignation, including on the day he returned to work in August. Most recently, the Standing Committee had asked for the help of the House of Bishops for its "support and assistance" in securing Bennison's retirement or resignation.

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[Bennison statement in response to HOB 9.22.10]

I sincerely appreciate the prayers of my peers in the House of Bishops and understand that they are concerned for the welfare of my soul.

However, they have no cause to be worried. I am, and have always been, innocent of the charges against me. And now the Court of Review of the Episcopal Church has reversed the erroneous decision of the Trial Court, and I have been restored to my position as Bishop of Pennsylvania.

As the Court of Review clearly determined from its review of the facts, I was unaware of my younger brother's inappropriate relationship with a minor member of our church until late 1977, after the relationship was over, and the young woman was legally an adult. The Court of Review also determined that I did not conceal anything about this matter, including my conduct, and that numerous clergy and bishops, including the then Presiding Bishop, Edmond Browning, knew of my conduct and did not deem it to be unbecoming a member of the clergy. Because the young woman was an adult when I first learned of the relationship in 1977, I did not inform her parents. When her parents did learn of the relationship, they requested that I keep the matter private, and I respected their wishes.

I have deep compassion for the young woman who was abused. If I could have prevented that abuse, I would certainly have done so. But I did not know of the relationship until it was over, and I can not pretend otherwise. I have nothing but affection for her and for her parents, whom I loved very much, and if there were any way that I could help her now, I would do so.

But resigning my position as Bishop of Pennsylvania will not ease her pain or remove the sting of the abusive relationship. Instead, I hope that the suffering I have endured during the past three years has strengthened me and will enable me to work for reconciliation within the Diocese.

I look forward to resuming my mission within the Church. We are a small Church, but a noble and historic one. I hope that the members of the Diocese and I can put the past behind us and work together to achieve our goals.

 
 

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