Hollingworth Apologises to Abuse Victims at Royal Commission

ABC
February 2, 2016

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2015/s4399428.htm?site=hobart

KIM LANDERS: At the child sexual abuse Royal Commission hearings in Hobart, the former governor-general Peter Hollingworth has given a personal apology to an abuse survivor.

Dr Hollingworth told the commission his handling of the man's abuse complaint, when he was Archbishop of Brisbane in the early nineties, was misguided and wrong.

Samantha Donovan is following the commission hearings and joins me now.

Samantha what has this abuse survivor told the royal commission about his dealings with the then Anglican Archbishop Hollingworth?

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Well Kim the survivor witness BYB has given his evidence to the commission this morning and he told them that he was closely involved with the Anglican Church and the Church of England Boy's Society in Queensland in the 1970s when he was a boy, and that from the age of about eight to 13 he was sexually abused by an Anglican lay preacher, John Elliot, who later became a priest.

Now BYB gave evidence that when he was in his twenties, he decided to complain to the church about his abuse and alert it to Elliot's offending. Elliot by then an ordained priest and the rector of the Dalby parish in Queensland.

BYB gave evidence that he had a meeting with the Archbishop of Brisbane Peter Hollingworth in 1993 and told him of the abuse, told him it wasn't an isolated incident and that Elliot shouldn't be in contact with members of the public.

But BYB told the commission that Elliot remained as the rector in Dalby and he said he never received a response to his urging that Elliot not be allowed to come into contact with children.

So that was in 1993 and Elliot was allowed to stay on as rector for several more years. He was later jailed for the abuse of several boys and later still for the abuse of BYB.

KIM LANDERS: So what did Dr Hollingworth say in his apology to BYB?

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Well this matter was examined by the Anglican Church Board of Inquiry hearing into child sexual abuse in the Brisbane archdiocese in 2003 among several cases and its adverse findings eventually led to Peter Hollingworth's resignation as governor general.

At the time of that report, he gave a general apology to several victims but Dr Hollingworth said today he wanted to personally apologise to BYB and he looked at him in the gallery as he delivered this apology this morning.

PETER HOLLINGWORTH: I want to take this opportunity publically and in person to apologise to BYB and his family for my poor handling of the complaint.

After a great deal of consideration over the past 22 years, I acknowledge unconditionally that my actions were misguided, wrong and a serious error of judgement and that I genuinely regret that.

The fundamental mistake that I made was failing to understand the long term repercussions that arise from child sexual abuse. In that respect, I failed to make your needs my absolute first priority. Instead I was overly concerned for the needs of Elliot and his family and those of the parish.

Instead of removing Elliot from his ministry, I took the approach I thought would ensure Elliot would not abuse again.

To BYB and your family, I am deeply sorry that I was not sufficiently sensitive to your needs, ignoring your plea for Elliot to be removed from ministry. There is no doubt that this has been a painful - a profoundly painful experience - for you all. In particular I acknowledge that my actions must have heightened your distress and for this I am very sorry.

KIM LANDERS: And that is the former governor general and ex Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Dr Peter Hollingworth.

Samantha, how did the former Archbishop explain his failure to remove the paedophile priest from the Dalby parish?

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Well he was asked several questions about that by counsel assisting this morning Kim. Here's some of that exchange with Naomi Sharp.

NAOMI SHARP: One of the reasons why you allowed Mr Elliot to continue as rector as Dalby is because you thought he wouldn't be there for too much longer, he was due to retire in a couple of years, and that was a risk management measure for you wasn't it?

PETER HOLLINGWORTH: Yes one of several.

NAOMI SHARP: Well how are you pleading a risk management measure if you grant him an authority to officiate and go anywhere and preach in the diocese of Brisbane?

PETER HOLLINGWORTH: Well I had been managing the risks as best I could, there appeared to me no further risks, he was of an age where this was less likely to happen in any case, he was in considerable financial need and on the balance of things I thought there was no problem about it.

NAOMI SHARP: And you took no further steps to assess at the time you granted this authority to officiate whether Mr Elliot may pose a risk to children in the parishes he preached in?

PETER HOLLINGWORTH: Yes I guess that's true.

NAOMI SHARP: You know now that Mr Elliot lied to you about his offending don't you?

PETER HOLLINGWORTH: Yes.

NAOMI SHARP: Do you agree that granting Mr Elliot an authority to officiate in February of 1998 was a serious error of judgement on your part?

PETER HOLLINGWORTH: The whole thing was from beginning to end, I’ve got no dispute about that and that's why I wanted to make that apology.

KIM LANDERS: The former governor general and ex Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Peter Hollingworth. Samantha Donovan our reporter covering the royal commission.