Episcopal Press and News
Commission Will Propose Canons to Set National Standards for Disciplining Clergy
Episcopal News Service. June 23, 1993 [93124]
Michael Barwell, Director of Communication for the Diocese of Southern Ohio
As the Episcopal Church grapples with a series of lawsuits related to clergy misconduct, a commission of the church is urging new national standards for the discipline of clergy and a uniform court system to settle disputes.
A subcommittee of the Standing Commission on Constitution and Canons has released a draft of a proposal to revise Title IV of the canons -- the section on "ecclesiastical discipline." In addition to proposals for across-theboard standards for disciplining clergy, it would also create a new position in every diocese: a church advocate, an independent "prosecuting attorney" who would investigate allegations and build a case for ecclesiastical trials.
"We are recommending a revision of Title IV to provide a fair, impartial, effective way in which to redress violations of our canons within the Episcopal Church...under a prescribed system of ecclesiastical jurisprudence which has not existed before," said Samuel Allen, vice-chair of the standing commission and chair of the Title IV subcommittee.
Allen, who spoke in an interview following the subcommittee's meeting in late May, said that the time is overdue to have a uniform system for clergy discipline throughout the church, rather than wide canonical and procedural variations from diocese to diocese. "There are no standards," Allen said. "It's currently whatever a local diocese wants to do."
"This revision is long overdue," said Suffragan Bishop Walter Dennis of New York who chairs the standing commission. "We hope it will ferret out people who engage in clergy misconduct such as sexual abuse, but at the same time protect those people who are accused. We have to be careful of 'ecclesiastical McCarthyism,'" Dennis warned in an interview, noting that "people's reputations can be ruined" by accusations alone without chance of fair trial.
Dennis also said that "aside from church insurance issues, we need to revise these canons because there has been no revision to keep pace with current precepts of due process of law." Some of the disciplinary canons date from the 19th century, and "just evolved," Dennis said. "Everyone seems to be looking for a uniform code...and will be glad to see we're using a common set of rules."
The recommendations come at a time when two bishops and a bishopelect have been accused of sexual misconduct, and a spate of other cases has caused the Church Insurance Company to restructure its coverage of liability for misconduct.
Among the highlights of the recommendations:
- The new system will make it easier for a clergy person -- including bishops -- to be brought to presentment or trial for misconduct or violations of the canons. While diocesan standing committees will continue to decide if a trial is appropriate, parents of minor children, victims, vestries or bishops would be able to directly approach the standing committee to present charges.
- Clergy accused of misconduct could be temporarily inhibited from continuing their duties prior to presentment or trial. "The bishop must act quickly for the good order, discipline and reputation of the church," the interim report states. "Due process [for the accused] is followed by limiting the time a temporary inhibition would be in effect and by the requirement that the standing committee must, by majority, in advance, have approved the issuance of a temporary inhibition by a bishop."
- The revisions also propose a new canon "to provide a clear, fair and summary procedure...to allow a priest or deacon to voluntarily submit to discipline where there is no clear need to put in process a lengthy, cumbersome and expensive ecclesiastical trial."
- A "uniform and consistent" procedure for presentment -- formally charging and bringing a clergy person to trial -- is proposed by the subcommittee, allowing for "protection for both the accused and accuser." Diocesan standing committees become the sole issuer of a presentment. Procedures for presentment of a bishop "have been revised for clarity and practicality of use."
- Once a charge is made, a church advocate would act as prosecuting attorney to investigate allegations and report back to the standing committee which then serves as a grand jury, deciding if the case should go to trial. Creation of the church advocate's role removes the bishop, diocesan chancellor and other church authorities from direct involvement in a case or church trial or subsequent appeals.
- Uniformity in diocesan trial courts is urged by the committee, establishing a court system that is elected by every diocesan convention and include both lay and clergy members.
- All trials would "conform to the spirit and procedural substance of designated Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the U.S. District Courts." Federal rules of evidence will apply during trials.
- The "burden of proving a violation of the canons will be upon the church advocate by clear and convincing evidence," the report says. "Clear and convincing evidence," Allen explained, is less strict a standard than "evidence beyond a reasonable doubt" in criminal trials, but stricter than "mere preponderance of evidence."
The subcommittee also proposes to reshape the "limitation of actions" for bringing charges against a clergy person. It proposes limiting claims to two years in cases not involving a crime or immorality. However, limitations currently fixed at five years will change, allowing claims to commence "within a period of time after the realization of harm and beyond the strict five-year limit."
The subcommittee said, for example, that presentment for sexually abusing a child would be limited to five years after the event, or until the child reaches age 23, unless it can be established to the satisfaction of the trial court that the victim was unaware of harm until a later date. The later date then would begin the five-year period of limitations. An absolute limit of 10 years would apply if there is no intervening disability such as status as a minor or incompetency, Allen explained.
A formal draft of the proposals to revise the canons will be presented to the House of Bishops meeting in Panama in September, Allen said. "This will be the first of many presentations of revised Title IV that members of the commission will make to persons and groups throughout the church before General Convention meets in Indianapolis."