Archbishop of Brisbane Jeremy Greaves confirmed Dr Hollingworth died in Melbourne on Tuesday morning. In a statement, he said the Church sent “its condolences to his family”. “Bishop Hollingworth served as the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane for 11 years from 1990 and was a vocal advocate for the poor and underprivileged,” he said. Born in Adelaide in 1935, Dr Hollingworth moved with his family to Victoria in 1940 and was ordained in 1960. He joined the anti-poverty organisation Brotherhood of St Laurence in 1964 and
during his 25 years there spent time as its executive director. Dr Hollingworth was named the 1991 Australian of the Year and was also recognised with an Order of the British Empire and an Order of Australia. In 1989, he was elected the eighth Archbishop of Brisbane before being appointed the 23rd governor-general of Australia in 2001. However, an Anglican Church inquiry later found he failed to remove pedophile priests Donald Shearman and John Elliot from the ministry in Brisbane in the 1990s, despite knowing
they had sexually abused children. In May 2003, Dr Hollingworth quit due to the “continuing public controversy” on his ability to “uphold the importance, dignity and integrity” of his position. In 2016, he testified at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and told a victim-survivor he was “extremely sorry that the church and I failed to protect you”. The commission ultimately found Dr Hollingworth made a “serious error of judgment” in allowing John Elliot, who admitted abusing two boys, to remain
in the ministry. Dr Hollingworth accepted the findings and apologised. The Most Reverend Greaves also acknowledged Dr Hollingworth’s controversies in his statement, saying the Church acknowledged “with deep regret the past failings” of the Church. “Anglican Church of Southern Queensland apologises unreservedly to those who have suffered abuse, distress, isolation and harm caused by the Church’s failure to respond with integrity and care when it was needed most,” he said. In 2023, Dr Hollingworth stopped practising as an Anglican priest. He is survived by his
three daughters — Deborah, Fiona and Sarah — and four grandchildren. His wife Ann died in April 2021.
Dr Hollingworth, Jeremy Greaves, Archbishop of Brisbane, Anglican Church of Southern Queensland, governor-general, Australian of the Year, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Donald Shearman, John Elliot
RIP. But didn’t he step down for the pedophile thing? Sucks all around.
I don’t even get how someone can be “Australian of the Year” then later it’s like they knew and didn’t do enough. They’re saying poor and underprivileged but then this other stuff… like what was the church doing.
So he was governor-general too, right? I thought Australia would’ve vetted all that before putting him in charge. Sounds like they knew about the guys and still let it slide. Man.
It’s always the same pattern with these church leaders, they apologize after years. Also people act like it’s just one “serious error,” but it says he failed to remove the pedophile priests even though he knew. And now he’s dead, so everyone’s condolences… like that fixes anything?