ABC News
September 13, 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-13/hepworth-sexual-abuse-church/2897290
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| Archbishop John Hepworth not keen to see priest named in Parliament |
The Archbishop of the Traditional Anglican Communion, John Hepworth, says he wants to see a Catholic priest at the centre of sexual abuse allegations stood down from the Adelaide diocese rather than named in Federal Parliament.
Archbishop Hepworth says he was sexually abused years ago when he was studying in a Catholic seminary, and one of the men involved is still serving as a priest in South Australia.
He says since he raised the issue with the Catholic Church in 2007 it has failed to act in a timely and decisive manner.
Archbishop Hepworth says, in contrast, his sexual assault allegations against a priest in the Victorian diocese were dealt with swiftly.
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has threatened to name the South Australian priest under parliamentary privilege unless the Church stands the priest down while it investigates.
But Senator Xenophon concedes his threat has been tempered by how Archbishop Hepworth feels about the matter.
"Given that he's the one who has come forward with these very serious allegations, he's the one who has suffered many years of trauma, I think it's important that I get John Hepworth's views, John Hepworth's wishes, in relation to what the Catholic Church has put [in response]," he said.
The Catholic Church says there are sensitive and complex issues involved and it has urged Senator Xenophon to meet its legal advisers for more discussion of the matter.
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