It’s taken a quarter of a century for the Anglican Church to offer an acceptable form of closure to the victim of a paedophile priest.
The ABC reported today that the Brisbane diocese of the Anglican Church had admitted to again failing Beth Heinrich over her 1995 complaint, which resulted in then-Governor-General Peter Hollingworth publicly blaming her for a priest sexually exploiting her as a 15-year-old.
The diocese has apologised for causing her "additional trauma and distress" through "unacceptable delays"
But the appalling cover-up and delaying may have been even worse if Prime Minister John Howard had been successful in his determination to defend Hollingworth and his attempt to keep secret the 2003 Church report into the abuse.
The furore started in February 2002 when Hollingworth, formerly the Archbishop of Brisbane, said on Australian Story: “My belief is that this was not sex abuse, there was no suggestion of rape or anything like that, quite the contrary. My information is that it was rather the other way round.”
On February 21 2002 Queensland Premier Peter Beattie called for Hollingworth to stand aside
He told Parliament: “What is perhaps central and most relevant in my judgement is the fact that when the Governor General was interviewed by Australian Story, he sought to defend a man who had – at the very least – carnal knowledge of a minor.
“He sought to impugn the standing of a 14-year-old girl by suggesting that she was predatory. That is my word, not the word of the Governor-General.
"That to me is:
The diocese held an inquiry into this and other matters and, because of a perceived risk of being sued for defamation, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall asked Prime Minister Howard and Beattie to table the report in parliament, thus avoiding any possibility of court action.
Howard, who had appointed Hollingworth Governor-General and was a great defender of the former archbishop, refused.
However, Beattie decided the contents needed to be made public and tabled the Report of the board of inquiry into past handling of complaints of sexual abuse in the Anglican Church Diocese of Brisbane in the Queensland Parliament on May 1 2003.
It led to public outrage but Howard continued to defend Hollingworth, saying on May 4: “There is nothing in his conduct as Governor General and indeed no proper basis in relation to other matters for me to recommend to the Queen that his commission be terminated.”
Beattie responded at the next sitting of the Queensland Parliament on May 13 by calling for Hollingworth to resign, and gave his reasons for doing so.
Howard was affronted. A senior member of his staff organised an ambush by the Tory Opposition in the Queensland Parliament on May 28 in a concerted attempt to smear Beattie as a hypocrite who had protected MP Bill D’Arcy, later jailed for paedophilia.
Beattie turned the tables, proving it had been the National Party which had vigorously supported D’Arcy’s right to remain an MP when Beattie was vigorously seeking to have D’Arcy thrown out of parliament.
Hollingworth resigned at the end of the month.
The ABC reported today that the Brisbane diocese of the Anglican Church had admitted to again failing Beth Heinrich over her 1995 complaint, which resulted in then-Governor-General Peter Hollingworth publicly blaming her for a priest sexually exploiting her as a 15-year-old.
The diocese has apologised for causing her "additional trauma and distress" through "unacceptable delays"
But the appalling cover-up and delaying may have been even worse if Prime Minister John Howard had been successful in his determination to defend Hollingworth and his attempt to keep secret the 2003 Church report into the abuse.
The furore started in February 2002 when Hollingworth, formerly the Archbishop of Brisbane, said on Australian Story: “My belief is that this was not sex abuse, there was no suggestion of rape or anything like that, quite the contrary. My information is that it was rather the other way round.”
On February 21 2002 Queensland Premier Peter Beattie called for Hollingworth to stand aside
He told Parliament: “What is perhaps central and most relevant in my judgement is the fact that when the Governor General was interviewed by Australian Story, he sought to defend a man who had – at the very least – carnal knowledge of a minor.
“He sought to impugn the standing of a 14-year-old girl by suggesting that she was predatory. That is my word, not the word of the Governor-General.
"That to me is:
- Damaging to the woman and her attempt to rebuild her life
- Damaging to the campaign against child sexual abuse and damaging to the office of Governor General. It is not the behaviour Australians expect of this non-political office.”
The diocese held an inquiry into this and other matters and, because of a perceived risk of being sued for defamation, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall asked Prime Minister Howard and Beattie to table the report in parliament, thus avoiding any possibility of court action.
Howard, who had appointed Hollingworth Governor-General and was a great defender of the former archbishop, refused.
However, Beattie decided the contents needed to be made public and tabled the Report of the board of inquiry into past handling of complaints of sexual abuse in the Anglican Church Diocese of Brisbane in the Queensland Parliament on May 1 2003.
It led to public outrage but Howard continued to defend Hollingworth, saying on May 4: “There is nothing in his conduct as Governor General and indeed no proper basis in relation to other matters for me to recommend to the Queen that his commission be terminated.”
Beattie responded at the next sitting of the Queensland Parliament on May 13 by calling for Hollingworth to resign, and gave his reasons for doing so.
Howard was affronted. A senior member of his staff organised an ambush by the Tory Opposition in the Queensland Parliament on May 28 in a concerted attempt to smear Beattie as a hypocrite who had protected MP Bill D’Arcy, later jailed for paedophilia.
Beattie turned the tables, proving it had been the National Party which had vigorously supported D’Arcy’s right to remain an MP when Beattie was vigorously seeking to have D’Arcy thrown out of parliament.
Hollingworth resigned at the end of the month.
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