{{Short description|Jamaican Catholic bishop}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = | honorific-prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Gordon Dunlap Bennett | honorific-suffix = | title = Bishop Emeritus of Mandeville | image = Bishop Gordon Bennett, SJ (8126201001) (cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption = Bennett speaking at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco <!--not sure if Flickr photo date of October 18, 2012 is accurate--> | archdiocese = | diocese = Mandeville | appointed = July 6, 2004 | enthroned = September 24, 2004 | term_end = August 8, 2006 | predecessor = Paul Michael Boyle | successor = Neil Edward Tiedemann | previous_post = Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore <!---------- Orders ---------->| ordination = June 14, 1975 | ordained_by = Timothy Manning | consecration = March 3, 1998 | consecrated_by = William H. Keeler, Carlos Arthur Sevilla, and George V. Murry <!---------- Personal details ---------->| birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1946|10|21}} | birth_place = Denver, Colorado | death_date = | death_place = | buried = | nationality = | alma_mater = | coat_of_arms = | motto = Grace Upon Grace | honorific_suffix = SJ }}
{{Infobox bishopstyles | name= Gordon Dunlap Bennett | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Bishop | image = Template-Bishop.svg | image_size = 200px }}
'''Gordon Dunlap Bennett''', S.J. (born October 21, 1946) is an American Catholic retired prelate who served as Bishop of Mandeville in Jamaica from 2004 to 2006. He was banned from active ministry in two dioceses of the Baltimore Province following an allegation of adult sexual harassment.<ref name="lorespeakspokes">{{Cite web|url=https://www.archbalt.org/press-release-03-11-19/|title=Archbishop Announces Completion of Preliminary Investigation of Allegations Against Bishop Michael Bransfield, Imposes Ministerial Restrictions on Bishop Bransfield and Former Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Gordon Bennett, S.J.|date=March 11, 2019}}</ref><ref name="americamagspeaks" /><ref name="ukbanannounce">{{Cite web |url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/03/11/two-former-bishops-have-ministry-restricted-over-abuse-claims/ |title=Two former bishops have ministry restricted over abuse claims | Catholic Herald |access-date=2019-12-12 |archive-date=2019-12-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212011014/https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/03/11/two-former-bishops-have-ministry-restricted-over-abuse-claims/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bennett is also a former Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore and a member of the Jesuits.<ref name="ncrspeaks">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncregister.com/news/archbishop-lori-restricts-bishops-bransfield-bennett-from-exercising-ministry|title=Archbishop Lori Restricts Bishops Bransfield, Bennett From Exercising Ministry|website=NCR|date=11 March 2019 }}</ref><ref name="americamagspeaks">{{Cite web|url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/03/12/two-bishops-removed-ministry-over-allegations-sexual-harassment|title=Two bishops removed from ministry over allegations of sexual harassment|date=March 12, 2019|website=America Magazine}}</ref>
==Early life== Bennett was born on October 21, 1946, in Denver. He first attended Loyola Grammar School in Denver. After his family moved to Los Angeles in 1955, Bennett went to Holy Spirit Elementary School and then St. Thomas the Apostle Elementary School. In 1964, Bennett graduated from Loyola High School in Los Angeles as the class valedictorian.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Most Rev. Gordon D. Bennett S.J.|url=https://www.archbalt.org/most-rev-gordon-d-bennett-s-j/|access-date=2021-11-03|website=Archdiocese of Baltimore|language=en-US}}</ref>
Later in 1964, Bennett entered the Society of Jesus at Santa Barbara, California. On September 8, 1966 he pronounced his first vows as a Jesuit.<ref name=":0" />
In 1966, Bennett enrolled at Loyola Marymount University, but transferred in 1968 to Gonzaga University. He graduated from Gonzaga with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. Bennett then returned to Los Angeles to teach at Loyola High School.<ref name=":0" /> In 1975, he graduated with a Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California.
On June 14, 1975, Bennett was ordained to the priesthood at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Hollywood, California. His first assignment after ordination was as Assistant Principal for Campus Ministry at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, serving there until 1979.
In 1979, Bennett received his Masters in Education in Secondary School Administration at Loyola Marymount University. In 1980, he received a Professional Diploma in Administration from Fordham University. In 1980, Bennett became principal of Loyola High School, serving in that role until 1988. On February 2, 1983, Bennett pronounced his final vows as a Jesuit.<ref name=":0" />
In 1989, Bennett became the Rector and Master of Novices at the Jesuit Novitiate in both Santa Barbara and Culver City, California. In 1996, he was named President of Loyola High School.<ref name=":0" />
==Episcopacy== In 1998, Pope John Paul II appointed Titular Bishop of Nesqually and Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore. He was ordained Bishop at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore on March 3, 1998<ref name=":0" />
On July 6, 2004, John Paul II appointed Bennett as Bishop of Madeville, Jamaica.<ref name=":0" /> He assumed his duties as bishop of Mandeville, Jamaica, on September 24, 2004.
=== Resignation === In May 2006, a young adult in Jamaica, who knew Bennett from Baltimore, complained to then-Archbishop of Baltimore William Keeler that Bennett had sexually harassed them. Keeler reported the allegations to the apostolic nunciature in Washington DC. On August 8, 2006, citing health reasons, Bennett resigned as Bishop of Mandeville.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Pitts|first=Jonathan M.|title=Former Baltimore bishop barred from ministering in Catholic archdiocese after allegations of sexual misconduct|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-lori-bars-two-bishops-20190311-story.html|access-date=2021-11-03|website=baltimoresun.com|date=11 March 2019 }}</ref>
=== Later life === After leaving Jamaica in 2006, Bennett moved to Los Angeles, working for several months organizing retreats and formation cessions for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was then appointed the Peter Faber, S.J. Fellow in Pastoral Theology and Ignatian Spirituality at Loyola Marymount University.<ref name=":1" />
In 2009, the Vatican cleared Bennett of the sexual harassment allegations from 2006. However, the Vatican limited him to a narrowed range of episcopal duties, all under supervision.<ref name=":1" />
In March 2019, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore forbade Bennett from exercising ministry in the Archdiocese of Baltimore due to the 2006 allegation of sexual harassment, which a stricter investigation on their part deemed credible.<ref name="lorespeakspokes" /><ref name="americamagspeaks" /><ref name="ukbanannounce" /> On March 12, 2019, ''The New York Times'' reported that a statement from the Society of Jesus said Bennett had stopped working in ministry in August 2018 and was undergoing treatment for cancer.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Stack|first=Liam|date=2019-03-12|title=Two Bishops Accused of Sexually Harassing Adults Are Barred From Priestly Duties|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/us/catholic-bishops-sexual-harassment.html|access-date=2021-11-03|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==See also== {{div col}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops {{div col end}}
==References== <references/>
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070204050236/http://www.nbccongress.org/aboutus/congress-directory/african-american-catholic-bishop-gordon-bennett.asp National Black Catholic Congress] bio of Gordon Bennett * [https://www.archbalt.org/ Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore Official Site]
==Episcopal succession== {{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box |title=Bishop of Mandeville |before= Paul Michael Boyle |after= Neil Edward Tiedemann |years= 2004-2006 | }} {{succession box |title=Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore |before= - |after= - |years= 1998-2004 | }} {{s-end}}
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore|state=collapsed}} {{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Maryland|Jamaica}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Gordon}} Category:Living people Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:20th-century American Jesuits Category:21st-century American Jesuits Category:Jesuit bishops Category:Archdiocese of Baltimore Category:1946 births Category:Fordham University alumni Category:Loyola Marymount University alumni Category:African-American Roman Catholic bishops Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic bishops Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Jamaica Category:American Roman Catholic missionaries Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in Jamaica Category:American expatriates in Jamaica Category:Bishops in Colorado Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Mandeville Category:21st-century African-American people Category:20th-century African-American people Category:African-American members of Catholic religious communities Category:Loyola High School (Los Angeles) alumni