Church trial begins for Episcopal bishop

By JOANN LOVIGLIO
posted 6/9/08

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A church trial began Monday for the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, who is accused of concealing the sexual abuse of a teenage girl by his brother, also a priest, in the 1970s.

A panel of bishops, priests and church members will decide whether Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr., the leader of the nation's fifth-largest Episcopal diocese, may resume his duties. Bennison, 64, was ordered to cease all "ministerial and canonical acts" in November.

"(He) didn't put a stop to it ... and didn't alert the church," church lawyer Larry White said in his opening statement Monday. He said the sexual relationship started when the girl was 14 and continued for five years. the rest