South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, on Tuesday evening, used parliamentary privilege to name and shame an Adelaide priest, Monsignor Ian Dempsey, accusing him of raping and sexually abusing Traditional Anglican Communion Archbishop, John Hepworth.
Xenophon dismissed the presumption of innocence in Parliament, saying in his opinion the Adelaide Archdiocese had taken too long to resolve the case, and it did not heed his ultimatum to stand down the priest while the investigation took place.
Xenophon said he felt duty-bound to name the priest, and told an almost empty parliament that “Sexual abuse flourishes because people keep secrets.”
No charges
Dempsey has not been charged by the Police nor currently part of a police investigation, reports The Age.
On the ABC’s Wednesday AM program, Father Brian Lucas is the general secretary of the Australian Bishops Conference told Tony Eastly the allegations Hepworth made have no relationship to anything involving children.
Lucas also revealed to Eastly that Hepworth has not laid a complaint with the police, which he said was proper place for the matter to be raised.
Archdiocese responds
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Adelaide archdiocese registered its disappointment at Senator Xenophon’s action.
“We are appalled that Senator Xenophon has tonight, under cover of parliamentary privilege, released the name of the priest despite being made fully aware of the extremely sensitive and highly complex background to this 50-year-old matter.”
“The fact that the senator has taken this action is a matter of grave concern to us and the consequences, in our view, will have an impact on not merely the person accused, but also on Archbishop Hepworth himself. It is grossly unjust and unfair for these matters to be aired in public when our investigation is not yet complete and when the priest concerned has categorically denied the allegation.”
“If the priest had been formally charged, which he has not, his name would be suppressed until proof of guilt had been established; and yet this decades-old matter has not even been the subject of a police report. We now have to consider the implications and potential consequences of Senator Xenophon’s statement to parliament.”
Moving with utmost care and sensitivity
Adelaide archbishop Philip Wilson said the archdiocese had only received approval from Archbishop Hepworth to proceed with the investigation in February.
Since it received the complaint the diocese has been proceeding with “utmost care and sensitivity”, the archbishop said.
Wilson said, Vicar General for the archdiocese, Monsignor Cappo had met Archbishop Hepworth at least eight times since 2007.
“On my behalf, Monsignor Cappo urged Archbishop Hepworth, at the end of each meeting, to give his permission to proceed with an investigation into the allegations,” Wilson said.
“On each occasion Archbishop Hepworth declined, indicating that he was not in a proper emotional state to deal with an investigation.”
Hepworth denies this, saying from the first meeting he had with Monsignor Cappo he gave the Monsignor the ‘green light’ to proceed.
No stand down
At the fore-front of the investigation, Traditional Anglican Communion Archbishop, John Hepworth, said he wanted to see Dempsey stood down rather than named in the Federal Parliament.
In response Archbishop Wilson said the alleged incident related to a period dating back almost 50 years and was between adults. “It did not involve children” he said.
Fronting the media earlier in the week, Dempsey categorically denied raping Hepworth.
A legal opinion obtained by the archdiocese said any decision to suspend Dempsey would be unjustifiable as a matter of Canon and civil law.
Constitutional lawyer and Vice-Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, Greg Craven said “Parliamentary privilege should not be used as a substitue for trial and conviction.”
Craven is of the view that by trying to force conviction, Senator Xenaphon may have stalled it.
Sources
Related Posts:
- Archbishop accuses diocese of delaying rape and sex abuse complaints
- Accused priest breaks silence
- Was Nick Xenophon being brave or waging one stunt too many?
- Xenophon speech puts parliamentary privilege in spotlight
- Victims should seek redress from police not Parliament
- Monsignor David Cappo has resigned from his Government posts
- Staff shocked as Mike Rann vows to take aim a 'kinky Catholics'
News category: World.
