Accused Catholic clergyman Ian Dempsey,
with members of his parish in Adelaide's Brighton, makes a statement to
the media yesterday. Picture: Kelly Barnes Source: The Australian
FLANKED by his parishioners, the senior Catholic clergyman
accused in parliament of raping another priest has denied the
allegations and said he may seek to make a statement in the Senate to
clear his name.
Monsignor Ian Dempsey fronted the media outside his Brighton parish in
Adelaide's southern suburbs yesterday to deny having raped the leader of
the
Traditional Anglican Communion, Archbishop
John Hepworth, more than
40 years ago.
"I am aware of John Hepworth's unsubstantiated allegations against me
through an inquiry instigated by the archbishop," Monsignor Dempsey said
yesterday.
"I have made it clear in writing to the inquiry that I categorically
deny the allegations, which I note are said to relate to events that
occurred some 45 years ago and have nothing at all to do with under-age
people."
He later told The Australian that he was relieved to have finally
spoken about the allegations, before going on a month of annual leave.
Monsignor Dempsey said he would consider applying to the president of
the Senate to address the allegations levelled against him by South
Australian senator
Nick Xenophon. "If they are the same privileges as
the senator used last night, it could be an avenue whereby I could be
able to correct some of the things he said which were inaccurate,"
Monsignor Dempsey said.
On Tuesday night, Senator Xenophon named Monsignor Dempsey as
Archbishop Hepworth's last surviving alleged abuser, after the Adelaide
Archdiocese ignored the independent MP's demands that Monsignor Dempsey
be stood down during an investigation into the claims.
Senator Xenophon told the Senate that people of the parish had a right
to know that the allegations had been outstanding for four years, and
that the church leadership had failed to make "appropriate inquires" or
stand the priest down.
The Archbishop of the Adelaide Diocese,
Philip Wilson, yesterday
attacked Senator Xenophon for naming Monsignor Dempsey and saying the
church had not responded properly.
"We have shown Archbishop Hepworth every courtesy, sensitivity and care in the process," Archbishop Wilson said.
Senator Xenophon also questioned the appropriateness of the federal
government's appointment of
David Cappo, the vicar-general of the
Adelaide Archdiocese, as chairman of Julia Gillard's new Mental Health
Commission, due to the alleged delay in investigating Archbishop
Hepworth's complaint.
Archbishop Wilson said he was "fully supportive of the manner in which
Monsignor Cappo has given priority to this matter and the sensitive way
in which he has dealt with it".
"I am deeply distressed that Senator Xenophon has named the priest in
parliament," Archbishop Wilson said. "The damage to the priest's
reputation is obvious and severe and -- in my opinion -- this serves to
undermine the presumption of innocence which all of us are entitled to
enjoy."
Archbishop Wilson said Monsignor Cappo had met Archbishop Hepworth on
at least eight occasions between the time the issue was first raised in
2007 and February this year.
"On my behalf, Monsignor Cappo urged Archbishop Hepworth, at the end of
each meeting, to give his permission to proceed with an investigation
into the allegations," Archbishop Wilson said.
"On each occasion Archbishop Hepworth declined, indicating that he was
not in a proper emotional state to deal with an investigation.
"He was also informed that if he was alleging any form of abuse,
including rape, that this is a criminal allegation and he should go to
the police."
Archbishop Hepworth said yesterday he had been encouraged to go to police only twice.
Archbishop Hepworth raised allegations on the weekend that he had been
raped and sexually abused by Melbourne priest Ronald Pickering and
father John Stockdale, who have both since died, while studying at the
seminary in Adelaide aged 15. He also alleged he had been raped later by
another priest, who Senator Xenophon named in parliament as Monsignor
Dempsey.
Archbishop Hepworth did not regret Senator Xenophon naming Monsignor Dempsey in parliament.
"I have a sense of peacefulness now because I've done the best I could," he said.
Monsignor Dempsey has a right of reply in the Senate if he feels he has
been defamed. He can write to the
Senate president to have a formal
right of reply, which is then referred to the Senate privileges
committee. The committee can then decide on whether to release the
statement and publish it in Hansard.
Senator Xenophon was yesterday criticised from all sides of politics
for using parliamentary privilege to name Monsignor Dempsey.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith said members of parliament needed to tread carefully when airing allegations under privilege.
"If you are a member of parliament and have the benefit of
parliamentary privilege you need to use that very carefully," Mr Smith
said. "And when you name an individual or individuals in the parliament
you firstly have to be sure and clear of your ground and you have to
have made a considered and deliberate judgment as to why that's
necessary."
Liberal senator
Simon Birmingham said parliamentary privilege should be used "cautiously, judiciously, sparingly".
"It's not the role of politicians to play police, prosecutor, judge and jury," Senator Birmingham said.
Nationals Senate leader
Barnaby Joyce said that using parliamentary privilege circumvented rights and liberties.
"We've got to make sure that everybody has got a certain presumption of innocence until proven otherwise," Senator Joyce said.
"If you have got the story wrong, then you've done an incredible injustice to the person."
Senator Xenophon told The Australian he did not regret his actions but
said he was baffled by the church's decision not to tell him that the
priest was being sent on leave.
"All this could have been avoided (on Tuesday)," Senator Xenophon said.
"I just want to make it clear that all I was asking for was a proper
investigation and if they had told me the priest in question was going
on leave it could have changed the course of action."
Acknowledgements: Additional reporting: Milanda Rout
Image via Wikipedia
Veiled French Muslim women flout ban in freedom bid...
