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	Public Support for Priest Naming The Age September 14, 2011 http://www.theage.com.au/national/public-support-for-priest-naming-20110914-1k8wz.html South Australian senator Nick Xenophon says he is receiving overwhelming public support for his decision to name a priest accused of raping Adelaide-based Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth about 40 years ago. The independent MP said the Adelaide Catholic diocese had taken too long to satisfactorily resolve the serious allegations first aired four years ago. Senator Xenophon used parliamentary privilege yesterday to identify Monsignor Ian Dempsey after the church refused to heed an ultimatum to stand down the priest pending the outcome of an investigation. Today, SA police said they had spoken Mr Hepworth in relation to the allegations. "We expect to speak with him again in the near future," a statement from the force said. The senator's office said it has received about 100 calls and emails since the naming - and 98 per cent of those were for it. "We've had a significant amount of support for the position Nick has taken, from constituents," a spokesman for the senator said. But some coalition senators have criticised the move. Liberal Simon Birmingham said parliamentary privilege should be used "cautiously, judiciously, sparingly". "It's not the role of politicians to play police, prosecutor, judge and jury," he told reporters. Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce said using parliamentary privilege circumvented rights and liberties. "We've got to make sure that everybody has got a certain presumption of innocence until proven otherwise," he said. "If you have got the story wrong, then you've done an incredible injustice to the person." A senior Catholic figure has defended the church's handling of the matter. The general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Brian Lucas, said Senator Xenophon had failed to make clear the allegations did not involve children. They related to a claim involving two priests in their late 20s some 40 or so years ago, Father Lucas said. The church had made the right call in not standing down the priest. "For someone to stand down ... on the basis of no perceived risk to children doesn't seem at all necessary," he said. Father Lucas said Archbishop Hepworth should have gone to authorities with his claims. Archbishop Hepworth, 67, revealed at the weekend he was the victim of violent rapes at the hands of two priests and a trainee priest beginning in 1960, when he was 15. Claims against dead priests Ronald Pickering and John Stockdale were settled in Melbourne. Defence Minister Stephen Smith said members of parliament needed to tread carefully when airing allegations under privilege. "If you are a member of parliament and have the benefit of parliamentary privilege you need to use that very carefully," he told reporters. "And when you name an individual or individuals in the parliament you firstly have to be sure and clear of your ground and you have to have made a considered and deliberate judgment as to why that's necessary. "I don't know enough about the details of this particular case to know whether in the circumstances that was warranted. "In the event, that's a matter for the senator concerned to justify why he has taken what is very much a last-resort measure." Mr Smith said institutions like the Defence Force and the church needed to take responsibility for inappropriate behaviour and adopt a zero tolerance policy. "That's what we aspire to in the Defence Force, that's what the chief of navy and navy aspires to and that's the same obligations placed on other institutions in Australian society." Later, Senator Xenophon said his office had received calls from people making general allegations of abuse. "My office has received many calls this morning from people making allegations about abuse generally," Senator Xenophon told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. "I haven't had a chance to look at those." He urged anyone who had been sexually abused to go to the police. "That to me should be the first point of call," the senator said. He reiterated that Archbishop Hepworth wanted his matter dealt with internally by the Catholic Church. He called for the church to act in order to "restore public confidence". "Rape is rape as a matter of criminal law, therefore any allegation of sexual acts without consent is something that needs to be taken very seriously by anyone who has those allegations brought to them," he said. Monsignor Ian Dempsey, who was named in parliament by Senator Xenophon, is expected to speak to media in Adelaide on Wednesday afternoon. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson will hold a separate press conference.
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