Charles Bennison, Embattled Episcopal Bishop, Vows To Stay In Office

By Daniel Burke
Religion News Service

(RNS) The embattled Episcopal bishop of Philadelphia said he erred in not investigating his brother's sexual abuse of an underage girl 35 years ago, but brushed aside calls for his resignation, saying it is more "interesting" for him to remain in office.

Bishop Charles Bennison was removed from ministry in 2007, when he was charged with "conduct unbecoming of a member of the clergy." A church court found him guilty in 2008. But Bennison returned to his Philadelphia office on Monday (Aug. 16) after a church appeals court ruled last month the 10-year statute of limitations on the charge had expired.

Even so, prominent Philadelphia Episcopalians--including the diocese's elected standing committee--said Bennison should resign.

"We do not believe that Bishop Bennison has the trust of the clergy and lay leaders necessary for him to be an effective pastor and leader of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, nor that he can regain the trust that he has lost or broken," the panel said in a statement.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Clergy has also called on the Episcopal Church to remove Bennison, saying his resumption of duties endangers children.

Bennison, 66, has refused to resign, saying in an interview on Wednesday, "I don't think that's an accurate sense of where the whole diocese is." He said his return to office "has gone extremely well."

"I have had a lot of time to think during the last three years," he said. "And I learned through discernment that it would be more interesting for me to return. There's a lot more opportunity to go deeper into relationships with each other."

Even though the appeals court reinstated him, it said Bennison's actions 35 years ago were "totally wrong." Bennison was a pastor in Upland, Calif., when his brother, John, began a three-year "sexually abusive relationship" with a 14-year-old parishioner, according to Episcopal investigators.

"I know that I made some mistakes in the 1970s of hiring my brother and not overseeing him and not investigating with scrupulosity what was going on," Bennison said. "I own that. But I also know that once I had actual knowledge of what was taking place I forced him to go to the bishop, and (John) was defrocked."

John Bennison was defrocked in 1977, but later reinstated. He resigned in 2006, when the sex abuse charges resurfaced.

Comments

[FlGlades]

07:24 AM on 08/20/2010

WOW if he been a catholic bishop this blog would be calling for his head. Notice the double standard. Catholic Bishop and the church is brutalized in this blog Episcopal Church everyone sleeps.............................This proves the biggotry here and there is a double standard

[Albert Westpy]

09:23 AM on 08/20/2010

WOW if he had been a Roman Catholic bishop he would have done the deed himself.

[monthofmay]

10:34 AM on 08/20/2010

It proves that many people hold the Catholic Church to the ideals of Christ...a backdoor compliment.

[Asmodean1]

04:21 PM on 08/20/2010

The catholic church does claim to be the only "true" church of jesus.

[puzzled500]

12:47 AM on 08/20/2010

It would be a hell of a lot more interesting if he were run out of church on a rail.

[Greg Sureck]

02:24 PM on 08/19/2010

this would seem to be a matter of ego on the good bishop's part. What does archbp Rowan have to say?

[beh3433]

04:03 PM on 08/19/2010

As any private person he may have an opinion if it is brought to his attention. Otherwise, the Archbishop has no authority in this. The Primate of the Episcopal Church in the US is the one with the authority and her judgement was overturned by a church court. Like it or not, canon law in the Episcopal Church is based on US Constitutional law.

[Choicelady]

05:59 PM on 08/19/2010

He has no say over the Episcopal church in the US.

[Guscat]

01:34 PM on 08/19/2010

I first posted on this four hours ago. There are now a total of three posts. This indicates the insignificance of the Episcopal Church.

[Choicelady]

06:01 PM on 08/19/2010

It might be because most of us know this is a rather isolated incident compared to the slavering hypocritical actions of Catholic priests and evangelical pseudo-family values people. The bishop harmed no one but did have a lapse of judgment about his brother. Hardly measures up to the scandals that we see almost daily in conservative denominations. As scandals go, THAT is boring, not the church.

[hyjanks]

06:03 PM on 08/19/2010

Within five years or so, with definite help from the World Wide Web, all religions will become insignificant.

[Asmodean1]

04:22 PM on 08/20/2010

Evil doesn't die so easy.

[jam2715]

12:49 PM on 08/19/2010

People like this should be beaten within an inch of death and left in the woods

[Choicelady]

06:01 PM on 08/19/2010

Why? what did HE do? His brother was the predator.

[hyjanks]

06:04 PM on 08/19/2010

Now, that's a Christian cure right from the Book of Leviticus, if I ever heard one.

[Asmodean1]

04:25 PM on 08/20/2010

AND right from the Book of Leviticus he could have used a kid goat and just "transfered" all his sins into it. Hey Presto! no sin. Life is good. Nothing to see here, move along. Life is good.

[jam2715]

12:48 PM on 08/19/2010

This so sick on so many many levels, thank god I left the church

[Guscat]

09:36 AM on 08/19/2010

Selfish man. Another example of the decline of the mainline church.

[Choicelady]

06:02 PM on 08/19/2010

After all the rapacious scandals from the Catholics and evangelicals, this failure to oversee and chastise his brother is pretty penny ante. The mainline churches are beginning to grow again. They aren't hypocritical like some others we could name.

[hyjanks]

06:05 PM on 08/19/2010

When has religion been anything but self-serving?