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ACNA PROPOSAL TO STRENGTHEN SAFEGUARDING OMITS LEGAL OBLIGATIONS TO VICTIMS
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
March 5, 2024
At a time when the Church of England is floundering over "safeguarding," having spent some 2 million pounds ($2.538.000) to find a way forward; it has miserably failed to do so.
A damning report published by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse concluded that the Church of England should be stripped of its power to investigate and punish sexual abusers because victims cannot trust it. There are 'inconsistent guidance, data collection, accountability, professional practice and scrutiny' in the Church's safeguarding, it said, and it 'falls below the standards of secular organizations'. In short safeguarding in the CofE is a total failure.
The C of E has been described as "ungovernable" in a report into safeguarding and institutional failings in the handling of abuse allegations.
ACNA
Perhaps mindful of the failures in safeguarding both in the Church of England and TEC, not to mention its own shortcomings, a Governance Task Force of the ACNA has submitted and proposed five (5) amendments to the canons of the ACNA for consideration and comment.
"The first canonical change we recommend is the addition of new Paragraphs 8 and 9 to Title I, Canon 5 -- Of Dioceses, as follows."
Section 8 -- Concerning Safeguarding Policies Each Diocese shall adopt safeguarding policies both for children and for adults to be implemented within its congregations, ministries, and diocesan structures. Section 9 concerns Reports of Misconduct. Each Diocese shall establish processes and mechanisms to respond to reports of misconduct by clergy and laypersons; to facilitate care of those affected; and to adjudicate presentments of presbyters and deacons and, where appropriate, impose sentence pursuant to Title IV.
Each Diocese shall adopt by canon and by 12/31/2025 the following minimum standards. Each Diocese shall appoint one or more Diocesan Reports Receiver(s) to receive reports of misconduct.
Upon receipt of a report of misconduct involving a presbyter or deacon, the Diocesan Reports Receiver(s) shall evaluate each report in a timely manner and shall recommend to the bishop whether the report discloses reasonable grounds to believe an offense under Title IV has been committed.
The bishop shall determine whether a report of misconduct involving a presbyter or deacon should be dismissed or if such report should proceed to further investigation.
VOL believes that the newly proposed Paragraphs 8 and 9, Title 1, of Canon 5, which deal with the handling of clerical abuse cases by dioceses, is within the scope of what we have been covering all these years.
From our reading of the proposed paragraphs, a perspective could be taken that they protect dioceses from liability without assurable protection of victims, i.e. a repetition of what has been going on all these years.
Furthermore, it seems that for victims nothing has been really done for them until the alleged offenses reach the secular authorities and press. Dioceses have and will act defensively to protect themselves.
A second thought, is that the proposed paragraphs be run specifically past lawyers and other victims of clerical abuse for comment, if they haven't already.
An attorney familiar with canon law said that at bare minimum, there should be non-diocesan people and non-clerics involved in the review process; an independent investigative report which is disclosed to the claimant, a hearing with live and sworn testimony and the right to cross-examine, and full appeal rights including beyond the diocesan level. The process leaves much to be desired.
You can read the full report here: https://mcusercontent.com/55313ccacc714e805ca2f9bc3/files/cd77bd38-b732-6da4-2abf-44d249fcff45/2024_proposed_changes_to_ACNA_canons_round_one_comment_period.pdf
A video of all the proposed changes can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jxca0Vbm7Y
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