AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net
George Pell routinely deflects questions about his priests by claiming he has no power over clergy outside his diocese, and also none over religious orders (which report directly to Rome). This has been very useful for him.
So too, the Anglican Primate, Phillip Aspinall, claims to have no control over dioceses other than his own of Brisbane. This is useful for him. When the Bishop of Grafton does something wrong, Aspinall is not responsible (see previous posting).
So he is only the equivalent of the Westminster system’s form of government where the Prime Minister is the “first among equals”. In this system, no-one would really claim the Prime Minister has no control over his or her cabinet ministers. Similarly, it is quite unbelievable to accept that Aspinall has no influence on his underlings.
As it stands at the moment, cases must be brought against individual dioceses. Consequently, it may prove useful to some to have a bit of background information about Aspinall’s underlings.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.