The family of a former governor-general who resigned over his handling of child sexual abuse in the Anglican church has reflected on the shadow cast over his final years.
Peter Hollingworth served as the Archbishop of Brisbane for more than a decade before being appointed governor-general in 2001.
He died after a fall on May 19, aged 91, and was farewelled at a requiem eucharist at Christ Church, in Melbourne’s South Yarra, on Friday.
Friends, former colleagues and family paid tribute to Dr Hollingworth’s years of service as a cleric and social welfare advocate and organiser.
The funeral was attended by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, Victorian Governor Margaret Gardner and former prime minister John Howard.
Delivering a eulogy on behalf of the family, Deborah Hollingworth reflected on the “long shadow” overhanging her father’s final years.
Appointed governor-general by Mr Howard in 2001, Dr Hollingworth used his position to advocate for Indigenous rights and disadvantaged people.
But his tenure was short-lived, resigning less than two years into the role amid scrutiny of his handling of child sexual abuse complaints within the Anglican church.
“He became the public face and lightning rod for the institutional failures to prevent and address child sexual abuse,” Ms Hollingworth said.
“He bore that burden heavily, as did we.”
The fallout tarnished not just his public standing but that of the church he represented, Ms Hollingworth said.
“He knew that in the public imagination he had come to stand among the bad men, and that knowledge grieved him profoundly,” she said.
“And yet he understood how it had happened and why.
“He also knew that there was a dark shadow over the church that he had served and been committed to.”
Born in Adelaide in 1935, Dr Hollingworth was later raised in Melbourne, studying theology at the University of Melbourne.
He studied under the late Anglican priest Gerard Kennedy Tucker, who inspired his turn towards frontline social work.
He was ordained as a priest of the Anglican Church of Australia in 1960, before going on to join the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
Founded by his university mentor, Dr Hollingworth served the welfare organisation for 25 years, including as executive director.
The father-of-three was consecrated Bishop of the Inner City in Melbourne in 1985 before being elected Archbishop of Brisbane four years later.
It was there that Dr Hollingworth failed to act on knowledge of abuse, a 2003 board of inquiry into the handling of complaints of sexual abuse in the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane found.
He allowed two priests, Donald Shearman and John Elliot, to remain in the church despite knowing they had sexually assaulted children.
A church inquiry in 2023 found he had committed misconduct by allowing the pedophiles to remain in the church but said he remained fit for ministry.
Dr Hollingworth accepted the investigation’s findings, saying he “made mistakes and I cannot undo them” but had committed no crimes.
While Dr Hollingworth continued his community work after leaving office, he was forever changed by the sustained public scrutiny, Ms Hollingworth said.
“When he returned to Melbourne, he was like a battle-wounded, shell-shocked soldier, not at all the same man that left in 1990,” she said.
“The successive public inquiries, each covering the same four matters that he was involved in, that had transpired in Brisbane, took their toll.
“In his later years, he lived in the long shadow cast by those successive inquiries and by the enduring pain that he knew surrounded them.”
He announced in 2023 he would no longer practise as an Anglican priest to “end distress” for survivors.
Following a series of strokes that same year, Dr Hollingworth resided in an aged care home in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Malvern.
Dr Hollingworth wrote a number of leading texts on poverty and social welfare and was named Australian of the Year in 1991.
He was expected to be farewelled at a private cremation following the ceremony on Friday.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)