Praying for the Predator But Not the Victim
The Rev. Gregory Brewer, a known conservative and rector of The Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, the largest parish in the Diocese of Pennsylvania said, "It is a GLARING omission that there are not prayers offered for Charles/John's victim or her family; nor are there any prayers offered for those who will be called to testify."
On June 9, Bennison is scheduled to go on trial in Philadelphia on charges that he concealed his brother's sexual abuse of a minor, decades ago. Bennison, 64, was pastor of a California parish in the early 1970s when he hired his brother, John Bennison, as its youth minister. John Bennison soon began a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl that lasted several years.
Last year, the girl's family complained that Charles Bennison knew of the abuse, but did not act to prevent it, and failed to inform his superiors when John Bennison sought ordination. John Bennison resigned from the priesthood in 2006 after a Los Angeles TV station, and later VirtueOnline brought the bishop's abusive actions to the attention of Episcopalians and Anglicans worldwide.
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GJ - Will Lutheran clergy ever have enough spine to stand up to the leaders who have engaged in the same kinds of cover-ups?
