Австралиялық отставкадағы Англикан епископы Питер Холлингворт өмірі мен қызметі

Australian retired Anglican bishop

Peter John Hollingworth, (born 10 April 1935) is an Australian retired Anglican bishop. Engaged in social work for several decades, he served as the archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane in Queensland for 11 years from 1989 and was the 1991 Australian of the Year. He served as the 23rd governor general of Australia from 2001 until 2003. He is also an author and recipient of various civil and ecclesiastical honours. In May 2003 Hollingworth became the third Australian governor general to resign, after criticisms were aired over his conduct as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s.

Hollingworth was born on 10 April 1935 in Adelaide, South Australia. He is the son of Rosalind and John Hollingworth. His father, an engineer, grew up in British India and moved to Australia after the First World War. His mother was from "one of South Australia's pioneering families". In 1941, Hollingworth and his family moved to Melbourne, The couple have three daughters. He became deacon in charge and then priest in charge of St Mary's North Melbourne, in a group ministry of the Anglican Inner City Mission within the Melbourne Diocesan Centre. In 1964 he joined the Brotherhood of St Laurence, an independent Anglican welfare organisation, as chaplain and director of youth and children's work, then as director of social policy and research. He completed a master's degree in social work and in 1980 was appointed executive director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, upon his consecration, 24 February 1985. In 1989, Hollingworth was elected the 8th Archbishop of Brisbane, where he continued his advocacy for the poor and underprivileged and supported the ordination of women.

On 22 April 2001 the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, announced that Queen Elizabeth II had accepted his advice to appoint Hollingworth as Governor General of Australia upon the completion of Sir William Deane's term. He was the first Christian cleric to hold the post, though precedent existed at a state level where Aboriginal pastor Sir Doug Nicholls and Uniting Church minister Sir Keith Seaman had served as Governor of South Australia and Davis McCaughey had served as Governor of Victoria. On 29 June 2001, Hollingworth was sworn in as Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia and Commander in Chief of the Defence Force. As the governor general is the chancellor and principal companion of the Order of Australia, Hollingworth was appointed a companion of the order (AC) on 29 June 2001.

In December 2001, allegations were raised that, during his time as Archbishop of Brisbane, Hollingworth had failed to deal appropriately with sex abuse allegations made against a church teacher at Toowoomba Preparatory School. That month, the Brisbane Anglican diocese was ordered to pay $834,800 damages to the woman who had been found to have been sexually abused. Hollingworth subsequently apologised to the Toowoomba victim and released a formal statement condemning child sexual abuse but by February 2002, the Labor Opposition was calling for Hollingworth to be dismissed. Hollingworth stepped down from his positions as the Brisbane Lions' No 1 ticket holder, patron of Barnardo's, Kids First Foundation and the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. On 8 May, Hollingworth issued a public statement denying allegations that he had raped a woman in the 1960s. Both the deputy prime minister, John Anderson, and the treasurer, Peter Costello, indicated in early May that Hollingworth should consider his position. After meeting with Howard on 11 May, Hollingworth stood aside.

In 2015–2016, Hollingworth faced questions as part of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in regards to his handling of abuse claims while he was Archbishop of Brisbane. He has apologised to victims for not pursuing their claims more rigorously. Like all Anglican clergy, Hollingworth holds a Working With Children Check clearance. There was a case to defrock Hollingworth Although the tribunal made several findings of misconduct, it described Hollingworth as "fit for ministry" and recommended he be kept on as a priest, provided Hollingworth apologised and was reprimanded. Hollingworth said in May 2023 that he would cease practicing as an Anglican priest. In 2023, the Victorian government investigated whether Hollingworth was fit to retain a Working With Children Check clearance, although Hollingworth's lawyer stated that Hollingworth had not worked with children for some time.

In 1976, Hollingworth was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and in 1988 he was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his work in church and community. In 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal and later the same year was promoted to companion of the Order of Australia (AC) upon his appointment as Governor General taking effect. As well as these secular honours he was elected as a canon of St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne in 1980. In 1991 he was named Australian of the Year and was included in the inaugural list of Australian Living Treasures in 1997. On 21 May 2001, Hollingworth was awarded the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by George Carey, the then Archbishop of Canterbury. He was awarded the doctorate in recognition of his research, publications, teaching and achievements in the fields of Christian social ethics, social welfare and poverty studies and episcopal leadership. In addition to this doctorate he already had six honorary doctorates from Australian universities.