The Bishop of Newcastle has revealed that as a child he was a victim of clergy sexual abuse.
The Bishop of Newcastle has revealed that as a child he was a victim of clergy sexual abuse. Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on 26 Oct 2015, the Rt. Rev. Greg Thompson said: “I’m both a bishop, but also a survivor.” His remarks followed a vote by his diocesan synod two days earlier that acknowledged and apologized for its “shameful” history of clergy child sexual abuse. In June Bishop Thompson said a review of abuse reports indicated up to 30 clergy molested children in the diocese in a forty year span. : “I know that as a diocese in the past we failed some victims and survivors of sexual abuse. Not only did we not support them when they came forward, but we fostered a culture that intimidated them and kept them silent.” In his diocesan address on Saturday, Bishop Thompson said: “We had cultures that dissuaded people from speaking of their experience … We had cultures that protected abusers.” The Synod also heard a recorded interview with two Anglican priests, who recounted their experiences of being sexually abused as children and the emotional and spiritual toll it had taken in their lives. In his interview with the ABC, Bishop Thompson said he too was “someone who has also faced that journey. I’m working through that personally, and as someone who is committed to being with people, I do that out of my experience and out of a deep longing for people to be loved.”
