THE former bishop of Newcastle, Roger Herft, is to be expelled from the Anglican Church after an internal inquiry found he was "unfit to remain in Holy Orders and that he should be deposed".
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The finding by the church's Episcopal Standards Board is in relation to charges that he had failed to deal appropriately with some allegations of child sexual abuse while he was bishop of Newcastle, based on findings by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
An Anglican spokesperson said Reverend Herft, who was bishop of Newcastle from 1993 to 2005 and archbishop of Perth from 2005 until 2017, when he retired, had 28 days to appeal against the decision.
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But as Reverend Herft had not provided any evidence to the board's investigation, it was considered unlikely he would appeal.
He said Reverend Herft was now living in Melbourne.
Anglican abuse survivor Steve Smith said the church had contacted him earlier today to tell him of the decision.
Mr Smith, who said he had reached settlement with the church, was abused by Anglican priest George Parker, who died in January 2017 shortly after being charged.
"That's Graeme Lawrence deposed and jailed and Roger Herft on the way to being deposed - it was a pretty sick place," Mr Smith said.
He believed that the diocese was "vastly different now" and that the director of professional standards, former police officer Cathy Rose, had "a zero tolerance attitude" towards abuse.
The standards board decision against Rverend Herft is dated last Wednesday, December 8, and runs to 110 pages.
It confirms the decision to depose Reverend Herft was for various matters including a failure to deal with allegations against the then dean of Christ Church, Graeme Lawrence, and other Anglican clergy including Peter Rushton and George Parker.
The decision to depose Reverend Herft was made public in a statement released yesterday by the Anglican Primate, the Archbishop of Adelaide, Geoffrey Smith.
"There is no suggestion, and there has been no allegation, that Mr Herft himself personally participated in such behaviour," Archbishop Smith said.
"The board has examined the extent to which he discharged his responsibility as bishop.
"Anglicans were shocked and dismayed at the unfolding in the Royal Commission of the scope of our failure to tackle child sexual abuse within the Church and the depth of survivors' pain and suffering.
"We are deeply ashamed of the many ways in which we let down survivors, both in the way we have acted and the way we failed to act.
"The Anglican Church of Australia is committed to the safety of children and vulnerable people in its care and to ensuring that information concerning possible abuse is taken seriously and dealt with appropriately."
In a responding statement, the Anglican Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Peter Stuart, said the royal commission rightly exposed the failure of the Diocese of Newcastle to prevent childhood sexual abuse.
"The Episcopal Standards Board heard that the Royal Commission made serious findings against Bishop Herft, some of which he conceded during the commission hearings.
"The board found that Bishop Herft mishandled allegations of childhood sexual abuse and frequently failed to make the reports required of him, including to the police. The board could not find any acceptable reason for the approach taken by Bishop Herft.
"The board also considered the way Bishop Herft gave evidence before the royal commission and considered his recall of events to be unsatisfactory observing, at times, his evidence seemed to be unresponsive or evasive."
Bishop Stuart said allegations of child sexual abuse went unchecked in the Newcastle diocese over a period of years, with "profound" consequences.
He said the diocese had strengthened its standards since the royal commission and was "committed to providing redress to people who were harmed".
John Cleary, chief executive of the diocese from 2007 to 2017, said he was pleased with the decision.
"Mr Herft was the subject of a great deal of my written and oral evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse," Mr Cleary said.
"The Royal Commission hearing went for 16 days and the professional standards and redress work occupied a significant proportion of my career over 10 years.
"I am so very pleased for survivors and also for supporters of my former team's work generally with today's news that Mr Herft is no longer fit to hold office.
"Convincing the public of real change is paramount to the church's reform process and ultimately its growth. Today's news is an important development."
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