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Former governor-general Peter Hollingworth will retain his position within the Anglican Church despite the church’s board finding him guilty of misconduct over his handling of sexual abuse allegations during his time as Brisbane archbishop.
Hollingworth will be allowed to continue officiating religious services in Melbourne as long as he issues an apology to those abused by church officials while he served as archbishop in the 1990s.
Former governor-general Peter Hollingworth in 2020.Credit: Joe Armao
This includes Beth Heinrich and “BYB”, victims of late paedophile clerics Donald Shearman and John Elliot. Hollingworth allowed both men to continue working as officers of the church despite knowing they had sexually assaulted children.
The Anglican Church’s professional standards committee had been considering whether to strip Hollingworth of his position following a secretive four-day hearing in February.
On Monday, the board resolved Hollingworth was “fit for ministry” and posed “no unacceptable risk of harm” to others if he retained his priesthood.
“The professional standards board has … determined that there will be no unacceptable risk of harm to any person if the respondent continues to hold the role office or position he currently holds,” the board wrote in its determination.
“That the respondent is fit for ministry subject to the condition that his ministry be confined to the role office or position in the church that he currently holds.”
In a statement, Hollingworth acknowledged he made mistakes and cannot undo them but stressed he committed no crimes.
“There is no evidence that there was any abuse because of any decision I made, or did not make,” he said.
“I had devoted my life to social justice, pastoral care and healing but I had little experience in dealing with the child abuse issues. Like other church leaders, I was unduly influenced by the advice of lawyers and insurance companies.”
The board recommended Hollingworth be reprimanded by Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier over his decision to retain Shearman and Elliot in the ministry, as well as his insensitive remarks towards the victims and their families.
Hollingworth said he accepted all the board’s recommendations and looked forward to the matters “finally being put to rest”.
“It is good that the Royal Commission and similar inquiries have led to changes in the law, attitudes and processes in churches and other institutions. Survivors of abuse have a much better chance of being heard and achieving justice than they did last century,” he said.
“The momentum achieved on this issue means we can reasonably believe that the incidence of abuse in institutions has been dramatically reduced, even eliminated.”
In a statement, Freier said the archdiocese would implement the recommendations of the board.
Lawyer Judy Courtin.Credit: Rebecca Hallas
“It is important to note that the diocese has no influence over the complaints process. I have not been involved in any deliberations or investigation,” he said.
The decision to retain Hollingworth as an officer of the church has been slammed as “a total whitewash” by some child abuse survivors, who had been campaigning for more than five years for Hollingworth to be defrocked.
A survivor who spoke to The Age on the condition of anonymity said the church had failed to examine all the complaints against Hollingworth and concealed information from the tribunal, including the evidence of two whistleblower priests.
“Hollingworth should be defrocked just like archbishop [Roger] Herft,” he said, referring to the former Perth archbishop who was defrocked in 2021 after an inquiry found he failed to address child sex abuse claims while he was bishop of Newcastle.
“The outcome is proof as to why the church cannot be trusted to investigate itself.”
Lawyer Judy Courtin, who represented Heinrich during the hearing, said the decision was a disgrace and signalled to the clergy that transgressions would go unpunished.
“This decision does not bring any justice or accountability to our client. Further, it only serves to traumatise her all over again,” Courtin said.
“Really, this decision provides nothing but a disincentive for other victims to reach out to the church for acknowledgment and justice.”
Gilbert Case, the former headmaster of a Brisbane school where paedophiles Gregory Robert Knight and Kevin John Lynch abused children, was banned from holding any office within the Anglican Church over his inaction to protect students from abuse.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard that Elliot confessed to Hollingworth in 1993 that he had abused two boys.
Hollingworth, who was the archbishop of Brisbane at the time, sought the opinion of psychiatrist John Slaughter, who told him Elliot was a paedophile and at risk of reoffending.
Despite Slaughter’s assessment and Elliot’s confession, the royal commission heard Hollingworth allowed Elliot to continue as the rector of the Anglican parish of Dalby in Queensland until his retirement in 1998.
Phillip Aspinall, who became archbishop of Brisbane after Hollingworth in 2002, described the decision as a “serious error of judgment”.
Hollingworth resigned as governor-general in 2003 after months of criticism over his handling of the abuse claims but later became a bishop in the Anglican Church.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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