Church turns a blind eye again
Greg Roberts; 12/4/08
Every Sunday for the past six months, since the Anglican Bishop of the Murray in South Australia, Ross Davies, went on sick leave, priests have prayed at church services in the diocese for his speedy recovery and return to office. Last Sunday, parishioners noticed that the offering of prayers for the controversial bishop’s wellbeing had stopped. A pastoral letter was read during services. Written by Murray Diocese Vicar-General Brian Ashworth, the letter made no mention of Davies. Instead, Ashworth declared it his “sad duty” to stand down the bishop’s second-in-command, archdeacon Peter Coote. In fact, the church was forced to stand Coote down last July, when The Australian revealed that three female parishioners had made allegations of sexual misconduct against the father of five and that Davies was told in a church report in 2004 that the complaints were credible but that he did nothing about them other than to ask Coote to attend counselling.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23525012-28737,00.html
Tags: Australia, Christianity, Sex Trade