Priest ousted for sexual misconduct
A former priest in Blenheim has been defrocked as a police investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct comes under review.
Michael van Wijk, a former priest of the Nativity Anglican Church in Blenheim, has been stripped of his title and duties, and his ordination has been revoked.
The church has announced van Wijk’s deposition to its parishioners, saying the move followed ‘‘non-consensual sexual conduct with a woman parishioner in 2005’’.
Police investigated the allegations at the time but the case was closed without any charges being laid.
But Senior Sergeant Ciaran Sloan, of Blenheim, confirmed the investigation was now being independently reviewed.
The church also investigated the woman’s complaints at the time, but did not take any further action.
Diocese of Nelson vicar general Timothy Mora said the woman raised the issue again with the church in 2016.
‘‘A process was followed [in 2005] but the complainant felt the case needed to be reopened again, and after hearing her concerns, we decided to reopen the case,’’ Mora said.
‘‘At the end of it, we determined that he had acted inappropriately.’’
The church convened a tribunal in 2016 and 2017, and Mora made the decision to depose van Wijk early last year.
‘‘But there was an appeal over which details should be publicised,’’ Mora said, which delayed parishioners being told.
‘‘You can’t brush these things under the carpet, they have to be dealt with. But there are other people affected by publication of the decision [to depose] as well.’’
The tribunal decided to withhold some details about the complaints, Mora said, declining to answer further questions about the nature of the complaints.
‘‘The church deeply regrets the actions that led to the revoking of the ordination. They arose because of the serious failings of one called to be an ordained minister of the church, which constitute a significant breach of trust and hurt for the complainant,’’ Mora said.
But van Wijk had to be deposed to demonstrate the church was serious about ‘‘ministry standards and the conduct of those ordained to Holy Orders’’, Mora said.
‘‘The church is regularly reviewing its procedures to ensure in so far as possible that such conduct never happens again.’’
The Nativity Anglican Church congregation was informed of the decision on January 21.
All Anglican churches had been informed to ensure van Wijk could not become a priest elsewhere in New Zealand or in another country, Mora said.
Mora said van Wijk had left Marlborough, and the Nelson diocese no longer had contact with him. Van Wijk could not be reached for comment.