Ecclesiastical court judgments – November – Law & Religion UK

‘Eleven consistory court judgments were circulated in November and relate to reordering, exhumation, and churchyards.’

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Law & Religion UK, 30th November 2023

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Employment status of Church of England curates: Green v Lichfield DBF – Law & Religion UK

‘In Reverend D Green v Lichfield Diocesan Board of Finance [2023] UKET 2409635/2022, the primary issue was the extent to which a stipendiary curate had standing to bring a claim before an Employment Tribunal.’

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Law & Religion UK, 25th August 2023

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Charity Commission inquiry: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain – Law & Religion UK

Posted August 10th, 2023 in charities, Charity Commission, child abuse, clergy, inquiries, news by tracey

‘The Charity Commission has published the findings of its inquiry into the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain.’

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Law & Religion UK, 9th August 2023

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“Spiritual abuse” – the “lessons learnt” reviews – Law & Religion UK

‘On 21 July 2023, the Diocese of Oxford issued the Press Release Learning Lessons Review: Revd Michael Hall, (“the Hall Review”), concerning the safeguarding case review it commissioned in April 2022 into allegations of spiritual abuse connected with St Margaret’s, Tylers Green, High Wycombe between 1981 and 2000. The review was the most recent of such “lessons learnt” reviews from the Diocese[1] and provides a present-day perspective of the Church’s approach to spiritual abuse both during and after the events at St Margaret’s.’

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Law & Religion UK, 31st July 2023

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Lord Sentamu: Former Archbishop of York told to step down from Church – BBC News

‘The former Archbishop of York has been forced to step down from his Church of England role after a review into how he handled a child sex abuse allegation.’

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BBC News, 14th May 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ordination training and employment status: Grabe – Law & Religion UK

‘In Ms F Grabe v The United Reformed Church [2022] UKET 2204367/2012, Ms Grabe had been a candidate for the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the URC between November 2008 and June 2012. The URC’s practice is that If a member of a local church wishes to discern a potential call to ministry, the local church refers the applicant to the regional Synod. If the Synod agrees, the candidate then attends an Assessment Conference made up of an Assessment Board and an interview with representatives of the Church’s Educational and Learning Committee, during which the candidate’s qualifications and general knowledge about the URC are ascertained and discussed. If the Assessment Board approves the candidate for ordination training the candidate and the Education and Learning Committee are so informed.’

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Law & Religion UK, 13th February 2023

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Retired vicar banned over ‘virulently antisemitic’ posts Published 11 hours ago – BBC News

Posted January 31st, 2023 in Church of England, clergy, complaints, disciplinary procedures, internet, Judaism, news by tracey

‘A Church of England priest who shared “virulently antisemitic” material has been barred from ministry for 12 years.’

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BBC News, 30th January 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Church of England bishops refuse to back gay marriage – The Guardian

Posted January 19th, 2023 in Church of England, clergy, homosexuality, marriage, news by tracey

‘The Church of England has rejected demands to allow clergy to conduct same-sex marriages but is proposing that couples who married in a civil ceremony may have their union blessed in church.’

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The Guardian, 18th January 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Employment, freedom of speech and Evangelical views on sexuality: Walters – Law & Religion UK

‘In Rev Keith Walters v The Active Learning Trust Ltd & Anor [2022] UKET 3324619/2019 the claimant, the minister of an independent Evangelical congregation, supported himself by working as full-time caretaker at the Isle of Ely Primary School [34]. When the dispute arose, the parties agreed that Mr Walters believed that his role as a minister took precedence over his employment and that there might be times when he would need to be released from school to fulfil his ministerial duties such as funerals [37]. The Trust, however, disputed his contention that it had been agreed that, so long as he was present at the start and end of the day, there was no issue with how he spent his time and, further, that he reserved his right to be “unequivocal in publicly stating the Christian doctrine on various issues, some of which may be unpopular” [38]. The ET accepted that there was an agreement to be flexible but did not accept that Mr Walters was either free to do what he wanted during work time or had carte blanche to make public statements against the school’s policies [39]. Further, he had agreed to the Trust’s policies and procedures, including the staff Code of Conduct [40 & 41].’

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Law & Religion UK, 29th August 2022

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Catholic boarding school has ‘serious failings’ over safeguarding – The Independent

Posted March 17th, 2022 in alcohol abuse, clergy, drug abuse, education, news, reports, sexual offences by tracey

‘An Ofsted report into a leading Catholic boarding school has found its safeguarding of pupils was “inadequate”.’

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The Independent, 16th March 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Vicarious liability for sexual abuse again: Hugh Kennedy – Law & Religion UK

Posted December 16th, 2021 in clergy, news, Scotland, sexual offences, teachers, trusts, vicarious liability by sally

‘In Hugh Kennedy against (First) The Right Reverend Paul Bonnici, (Second) The Right Reverend James Warren Cuthbert Madden and (Third) Denis Alexander [2021] ScotCS CSOH 106, the pursuer brought an action for personal injury as a consequence of alleged sexual and physical abuse which, he averred, he had suffered while he was a boarder in the mid-1970s at Fort Augustus Boarding School. The school, which was run by a Benedictine community, had closed nearly 30 years ago, the trust associated with the community’s Abbey had been wound up some ten years ago and the then trustees may have been discharged. The trustees at the material time were all dead. The pursuer averred that, nevertheless, the then trustees had held indemnity insurance in respect of his claim and he sued the two surviving trustees for the purposes of meeting his claim from the trust estate comprised of the (presumed) right of indemnity under that insurance [1]. He claimed that the third defender, Denis Alexander, a monk and teacher at the school, had been his principal abuser and that he had also been abused by two lay teachers, both now dead [2]. In July 2021, Alexander had been convicted inter alia of lewd and libidinous conduct against the pursuer [4] and sentenced to four years and five months imprisonment.’

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Law & Religion UK, 14th December 2021

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Child abuse laws to be expanded in England and Wales – BBC News

‘Sports coaches and faith leaders who have sexual relationships with 16 and 17-year-olds in their care will be breaking the law under new legislation planned for England and Wales.’

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BBC News, 9th March 2021

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Granville Gibson: Church dismissed sex priest abuse as drunkenness – BBC News

Posted December 17th, 2020 in alcohol abuse, child abuse, clergy, news, reports, sexual offences by tracey

‘Church officials dismissed claims a priest was sexually abusing young men as “drunkenness”, a report has found.’

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BBC News, 17th December 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Church of England may have to pay out millions over child sexual abuse – The Guardian

Posted February 13th, 2020 in child abuse, Church of England, clergy, compensation, news, sexual offences, victims by tracey

‘he Church of England could face a multimillion-pound bill after its ruling body voted in favour of compensating survivors of sexual abuse.’

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The Guardian, 12th February 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Former monk who sexually abused boys as young as nine jailed for more than 20 years – The Independent

Posted February 13th, 2020 in child abuse, clergy, news, sentencing, sexual offences by tracey

‘A former monk at a Catholic boarding school who sexually abused boys as young as nine has been jailed for more than 20 years.’

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The Independent, 12th February 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Peter Ball – the on-going legacy – Law & Religion UK

Posted January 14th, 2020 in child abuse, Church of England, clergy, inquiries, news, reports, sexual offences by sally

‘In 2015, Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, was jailed at the Old Bailey for sexual offences against 18 young men over three decades, the circumstances of which have been the subject of inquiries within the Church of England and externally. BBC2 has scheduled a documentary, Exposed: The Church’s Dark Secret, on the Peter Ball case for 13 and 14 January 2020. This post reviews the legal issues that have arisen in the case of Peter Ball, and comments on related ongoing enquiries and the legal implications for the Church.’

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Law & Religion UK, 13th January 2020

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Priests would rather die than break the Seal of Confession, Cardinal Nichols tells child sex abuse inquiry – Daily Telegraph

Posted November 8th, 2019 in child abuse, clergy, inquiries, news, sexual offences by tracey

‘Priests would rather die than break the Seal of Confession, the most senior Catholic in England and Wales has told an inquiry into child sexual abuse. The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, made the comments today while giving evidence at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).’

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Daily Telegraph, 8th November 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Child sexual abuse inquiry criticises lack of cooperation from Vatican – The Guardian

Posted October 29th, 2019 in child abuse, clergy, inquiries, news, sexual offences by tracey

‘The Vatican’s repeated refusal to cooperate with official investigations into paedophile priests and its delay in stripping convicted offenders of their clerical status has been condemned by the UK’s child sexual abuse inquiry. In a highly critical attack on the papacy’s stonewalling response to decades of complaints, the lead counsel to the inquiry, Brian Altman QC, said it was “very disappointing” that significant evidence and statements had been withheld.’

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The Guardian, 28th October 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Inquiry – ‘Positions of Trust’ within faith settings – Law & Religion UK

Posted August 16th, 2019 in child abuse, Christianity, clergy, inquiries, news, parliament, sexual offences by tracey

‘On 15 August, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Safeguarding in Faith Settings issued a call for evidence for its second Inquiry on whether there should be a change in legislation relating to “Positions of Trust” within faith settings.’

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Law & Religion UK, 15th August 2019

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Events in 1995 and 2010 lead to lifetime CDM prohibition – Law & Religion UK

‘On 30 July 2019, the Clergy Discipline Tribunal of the Diocese of Portsmouth (“the Tribunal”) handed down a lifetime prohibition on the exercise of any function of the orders of the Reverend Simon Sayers, Rector of Warblington and Emsworth, Hampshire. The complaint was raised by the Ven Dr Joanne Grenfell on 23 March 2017 in relation to unbecoming or inappropriate conduct to the office and work of a clerk in Holy Orders within section (8)(1)(d) of the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003.’

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Law & Religion UK, 6th August 2019

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com