Australian tribunal finds Bishop of The Murray guilty of misconduct:

Tag: australia

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Special Tribunal of the Anglican Church of Australia has found the former Bishop of The Murray guilty of eight of the nine charges of misconduct brought against him by the bishops of the province of South Australia.

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In an Oct 5 letter to the Australian bishops, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall reported the Tribunal recommended Bishop Ross Davies be removed from office, prohibited from functioning as a bishop, and be rebuked. Dr. Aspinall added that though some newspapers reported that Bishop Davies had been received into the Roman Catholic Church on Sept 28, “I have received no confirmation of this.”

On Sept 24, Bishop Davies, resigned as Bishop of the Murray on the eve of his trial. Dr. Aspinall stated that “on the same date, Bishop Davies also signed a deed of relinquishment of his orders.”

However the “deed” was not accepted by the Metropolitan of South Australia, Archbishop Jeffrey Driver, and the Special Tribunal “determined that it had jurisdiction to hear charges brought against Bishop Davies.”

In February 2010, the Episcopal Standards Commission lodged a formal complaint of misconduct with the church’s Special Tribunal accusing Bishop Davies with conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy and abuse of office.

The seventeen page complaint listed nine causes of action and offered 108 examples of misconduct, including seeking a £600,000 payout from the diocese in exchange for his early retirement. Bishop Davies denied the accusations, and a three-man Tribunal led by the Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr. Philip Freier, was charged with adjudicating the complaint..

It was alleged that Bishop Davies lived outside the diocese and worshiped at a Roman Catholic parish in Adelaide, engaged in abusive and bullying behavior, sought to extract a financial settlement from the diocese in exchange for his retirement, and failed to discipline an archdeacon accused of sexual misconduct.

In its Sept 28 decision, the Special Tribunal noted that Bishop Davies’ claim that illness prevented him from attending the trial or offering a defence, was not substantiated by a physician. The tribunal examined the evidence presented in the case and found that “the charge of Disgraceful Conduct” was “made out by the evidence relating to eight counts” while the ninth count of misconduct was “not proven.”

“The difficulties in the Diocese of The Murray have been significant and protracted,” Dr. Aspinall said, and the “situation has involved considerable pain for the diocese as a whole.”

He asked the bishops to “keep the diocese, Ross and Christine Davies, and all involved in your prayers as the work of restoration and healing now unfolds.”

http://geoconger.wordpress.com/2010/1...-2010-p-8/