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Senator Nick Xenophon has indicated he might not have used parliamentary privilege to name a priest accused of raping John Hepworth, now an Anglican Bishop, had he known the man was about to take leave.
Adelaide Catholic priest Monsignor Ian Dempsey said it was “totally unfair and unjust” of the independent SA senator to use parliamentary privilege to make the allegation.
Senator Xenophon yesterday said he had acted in good faith and without malice in naming Monsignor Dempsey under parliamentary privilege, but added: “I regret the course of events went down this path,” he said.
He claimed that the matter might have played out differently had he known Monsignor Dempsey was about to go on a month’s annual leave.
“It would have given an opportunity for there to be a satisfactory outcome without the need to name the priest in question,” he said.
“I find it bewildering and extraordinary that no one in the Catholic Church decided to advise me the priest in question was about to go on leave.”
Senator Xenophon said he named Monsignor Dempsey because the Church had taken too long to address the rape allegations against him that had emerged four years ago.
The Adelaide Catholic Church has said it was not being tardy. It said Archbishop Hepworth had only this year decided to proceed with his claim.
Last night, the ABC reported an affiliate church in the US had condemned Archbishop Hepworth’s plans for the denomination to join the Catholic Church and asked him to resign.
An Anglican Church in America spokesman said only 10 per cent of members supported the Traditional Anglican Communion’s proposal to join Rome and said there had been a lack of consultation with the wider church.
The ABC said the church told Archbishop Hepworth in a letter it was no longer possible for him to continue in his current role.
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