Anglican leader stands with Catholics on sex abuse claims

Anglican Primate Phillip Aspinall has given personal support to the two Catholic Church leaders in the eye of the Hepworth sexual abuse affair, urging people not to rush to judgment over what happened to the future archbishop or the handling of the case.

Dr Aspinall praised the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, as "one of the church leaders in the country most educated" in dealing with sex abuse complaints, while archdiocese vicar-general David Cappo was "deeply understanding" of victims' needs.

The Weekend Australian revealed that Dr Aspinall had commissioned a review into the policy he had developed in Brisbane to report all sexual abuse complaints against Anglican clergy and church staff to police, regardless of the complainant's wishes or any time lapse.

Dr Aspinall emphasised that he could not comment on the Catholic hierarchy's management of the complaint by Archbishop John Hepworth of the breakaway Traditional Anglican Communion that he suffered systematic sexual abuse for more than a decade at the hands of Catholic clergy in Adelaide and Melbourne, forcing him to flee the priesthood.

The Anglican Primate told The Australian he knew Archbishop Wilson and Monsignor Cappo and had great respect for both.

"You know, I think there are two sides to the story," he said.

"And I recognise the restrictions on some of the people in authority in churches about being able to tell what they know." To read more, click here.