Anglican clergy will need clearance nod
ANYONE wanting to be ordained to serve as an Anglican clergyperson will have to provide a police clearance certificate.
Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, said the church adopted new measures to deal with sexual abuse and harassment.
The church has been rocked by disclosures of sexual abuse.
Earlier this year, David Fields (not his real name) told the Cape Times’ sister publication, the Weekend Argus, how he endured abuse from the late 1970s until the early 1980s when he was 13.
Before this, former Anglican and award-winning South African author Ishtiyaq Shukri broke his silence in an open letter on sexual assaults he allegedly endured at St Cyprian’s Grammar School.
“At meetings held last week, our church’s Synod of Bishops and our provincial standing committee – which includes clergy and lay people from every diocese in southern Africa – had their first opportunity to discuss the reports of clergy abusing children which received widespread publicity earlier this year,” Makgoba said.
“We were made acutely aware of the pain of those who have been hurt by the church. Although the number of cases reported so far is limited, we resolved to take up the issue with the utmost seriousness,” he said.
Experienced lawyers and clergy serving on the Canon Law Council reported that the church’s Pastoral Standards, which were incorporated into church law, set out a sound basis on which to handle complaints of abuse.
But it pointed out that the church needed to make it easier for complainants to lay complaints and provide better support for them.
“The council reported complaints, especially historical complaints, are not being handled quickly enough.
“It recommended that we set up a central register of complaints, including details of what action has been taken. The council will propose changes to church legislation at the next meeting of the three-yearly Provincial Synod, our top legislative body, next year.
“In the meantime, the provincial standing committee has resolved that, with immediate effect, all ordinations, elections or consecrations of ordained ministers will include the requirement for a police clearance certificate to be obtained from a verified agency,”
Makgoba said. From January next year, the same rule will be enforced for lay ministers, especially those involved in youth ministry and Sunday school teaching.
“In addition, the Canon Law Council emphasised to the Synod of Bishops that it is urgent and very important that every diocese set up a team to deal effectively with allegations of abuse. We are arranging training for the bishops at the next meeting of our Synod of Bishops, and have asked each diocese to ensure that its teams also receive training in how best to respond to complaints.
“Most of the half-dozen cases which have emerged this year concern events which occurred more than 20 years ago, which – except in cases of rape – prevents victims from pursuing their cases through criminal courts in South Africa.” He reiterated his support for quick action by Parliament to change the law to allow such prosecutions to take place.
But former St Matthews Church reverend June Dolley-Major, who alleged in 2016 that a priest raped her and a bishop told her to be silent about the ordeal, said the new measures did nothing to address predators already in the church.
“This means nothing. If you haven’t been convicted of a crime, you are not a rapist,” she said.
Makgoba was aware of rapists and abusers among the clergy and high ranking members, Dolley-Major said.
“If a woman comes forward, if its a first-time offender and is seen to be an upstanding member of the community, then people are encouraged to not report to the police,” Dolley-Major said, adding that when she first spoke up, she was branded a “trouble maker”.