Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Episcopalians speak for and against Pa. Bishop Bennison

By David O'Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer
Wed, Aug. 13, 2008

Episcopal Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. should be removed from church office, according to the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA and the victim of Bennison's brother's sexual abuse.

But a special church court - which in June found Bennison guilty of failing to protect a girl in his parish from his brother John's sexual abuse decades ago - has also received dozens of letters from Bennison's admirers asking that he be allowed to continue to lead the five-county Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania he has headed since 1998.

"His ministry is a gift the Episcopal Church so desperately needs," wrote one.

In October, the Episcopal Church suspended Bennison, 62, on two charges of "conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy" and called for a trial. the rest image

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