Former governor general and Brisbane’s Anglican archbishop Peter Hollingworth dies at 91

Former governor general Peter Hollingworth, who resigned over his handling of child sexual abuse in the Anglican church, has died. Hollingworth, who devoted much of his life to fighting poverty, served as the Anglican archbishop of Brisbane for 11 years from 1990, the first Australian-born person to hold the position. He died on Tuesday, aged 91. Appointed governor general in 2001 by former Liberal prime minister John Howard, Hollingworth used his position to advocate for Indigenous rights and disadvantaged people. But Australia’s only clerical viceroy spent less than two years in the role before being forced to resign. In 2003, a board of inquiry into the handling of complaints of sexual abuse in the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane found that Hollingworth, as archbishop, failed to act on knowledge of abuse. He allowed two priests 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. Hollingworth accepted the investigation’s findings, saying he “made mistakes and I cannot undo them” but had committed no crimes. There is no suggestion Hollingworth abused children himself. In a statement on Tuesday, Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Jeremy Greaves said the church sent its condolences to Hollingworth’s family. …