SYDNEY (CathNews) — The Traditional Anglican Communion primate Archbishop John Hepworth has rebuffed calls for his resignation by his clergy in the United States, reports The Australian.

The resolution passed by the Traditional Anglican Communion’s Anglican Church of America called for Archbishop Hepworth’s resignation on the grounds of the stress caused to him by the public spat over his allegations of sexual abuse by three Catholic priests nearly 50 years ago.

A senior official from the ACA told The Australian on September 26 that there were major concerns over Archbishop Hepworth’s leadership of the TAC and the damage to the church caused by his allegations that the Catholic Church’s Adelaide archdiocese had mishandled his claims.

“Leadership is a political question and I think that the sexual abuse question is indeed part of that,” the senior official said. “There are serious questions being raised about just simply the story itself and what is real and what is not.

Archbishop Hepworth shrugged off the resolution, saying 67 priests from the United States church had made an application to rejoin the Vatican, and were no longer voting in the House of Clergy, where the resolution on his resignation had passed. If the vote had been held before they withdrew, he said, it would not have succeeded.

“If my bishops were telling me my time had come I would take that very seriously,” he said. “Priests always have troubles with their bishops, and I’m not deeply troubled.”
Archbishop Hepworth told ABC radio he still had the support of his church and the Vatican to proceed with reunification negotiations.

“Nine years ago, I wrote to the then Cardinal Ratzinger who headed the CDF, and said that if I ever became an obstacle through my personal circumstances or background, then understand that I will step aside,” Archbishop Hepworth said.

“Now, at the moment, the Vatican isn’t saying that to me. They’re saying to me the opposite; to keep going as you are.”