From ELO-
Five witnesses who testified at the trial of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison have expressed "great sorrow" that a review court verdict has enabled him to return to work despite agreeing that he failed to respond appropriately when he had reason to believe that his brother, John Bennison, was engaged in sexual misconduct with a young girl in his parish.
The letter, which was addressed to the people of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, members of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies and Episcopalians everywhere, was signed by Martha Alexis, the abuse victim; Julia Alexis, her mother; Maggie Thompson, John Bennison's ex-wife, to whom he was married when the abuse began; and two other witnesses.
Bennison resumed his role as bishop after the church's Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop overturned a lower court's finding that he ought to be deposed (removed) from ordained ministry because he had engaged in conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy. The review court agreed with one of the lower court's two findings of misconduct, but said that Bennison could not be deposed because the charge was barred by the church's statute of limitations.
"The statute of limitations regarding sexual abuse needs to be removed entirely," the letter said. "The crime of complicity and cover-up needs to be regarded as equal in seriousness to that committed by the perpetrator because it allows the abuse to continue. Further, in matters of clergy sexual abuse, there needs to be a church-wide mechanism that supersedes the autonomy of individual diocesan bishops. At stake are the safety of the people and the credibility of the Episcopal Church as a whole."
More here-
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_124178_ENG_HTM.htm
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