Off on the wrong track?
In a footnote to their open letter posted this February, #ACCtoo organizers Michael Buttrey and Carolyn Mackie blame the Anglican Journal governance policy General Synod adopted in 2019 for enabling the alleged breach of confidentiality and privacy for which the letter calls the church to account.
“We believe this abuse of power was enabled by a motion adopted at the 2019 General Synod meeting in Vancouver that changed the mandate, oversight, and reporting structure of the AJ,” the footnote reads.
Anglican Church puts interests of alleged abusers ahead of victims, says woman whose trust has been violated
‘Kidd continued, unbeknownst to her or her editor, the draft was also sent out to the Anglican dioceses and colleges that the sources critiqued in the piece. This meant the very institutions the women believe previously mishandled their various allegations of sexual misconduct were given a chance to pore over a draft — with potentially identifying details in it.
“It’s one of those things where if I didn’t laugh about it, I was going to cry about it, and just like probably never stop crying,” Proctor, 31, said from her home in Halifax.’
Anglican Church under fire for breaching confidentiality of sexual abuse accusers
Senior members of the Anglican Church of Canada are under fire for breaching confidentiality of sexual misconduct accusers.
Edmonton Diocese Response to #ACCtoo
May 1, 2022 | Margaret Glidden
‘“I obviously wish that this had never occurred. But after it did, I wish that our General Secretary had apologised without qualification and proceeded with transparency. I wish the Primate herself had acknowledged the harm done and the re-traumatization caused by this treatment of survivors of sexual misconduct within our Church. I wish a burden of shame and secrecy had not fallen on shoulders already overburdened with the secrets of the Church. I wish we had told the truth and trusted God enough to show up and heal His broken people.”’
CoGS releases statement on #ACCtoo letter
‘“This is not a case of well-intentioned people making well-intentioned mistakes. The facts don’t bear that out. Furthermore, we must recentre this process on the victims. They have repeatedly put their trust in this institution, and they have repeatedly been failed by it, at great personal cost. The focus must be on what the victims require of us, not what we are prepared to offer. If we can’t get this right, how can the work of reconciliation we say we are wholeheartedly committed to be seen to have any integrity? I believe this case has widespread implications for the Anglican church across this country.”’
Anglican Church of Canada blunders stoke calls for general secretary to resign
Survivors of abuse and anti-abuse advocates in the Anglican Church of Canada are calling for the denomination’s general secretary to resign, saying he and other ACC leaders have continued to bungle their response to the leak of a draft of an article on sexual misconduct written for the denomination’s paper.
“The ACC absolutely has the capacity to respond in an appropriate way, but it has made deliberate and calculated choices not to out of its need for self-preservation or out of fear,” said Cydney Proctor, a self-identified survivor of sexual misconduct.
‘What happened … was gravely wrong.’
March 29, 2022 | Sean Frankling
The Council of General Synod (CoGS) has committed itself to improving the church’s practices in a range of areas including sexual abuse and journalistic governance in the wake of public allegations that senior church management failed to protect the identities of victims of alleged sexual assault by sharing last year an early draft of an article for an Anglican Journal sister publication.
A number of Anglicans, however—including the two responsible for these public allegations, the Journal’s former editor and one member of CoGS—say they have serious concerns about the council’s response, and are calling for, among other things, the resignation of the church’s general secretary.
Sexual misconduct survivor decries ‘another breach of trust’ by Anglican church leadership
March 22, 2022 | Emma Prestwich
A survivor of sexual misconduct who spoke with a Canadian Anglican news outlet about her experience says she feels she’s been betrayed — twice — by the denomination’s leadership.
Cydney Proctor was interviewed in early 2021 by Anglican Journal staff about her experience of sexual violence in the church for a wider story about sexual misconduct in the denomination.
Church of Canada Apologizes to Sexual Abuse Survivors
March 16, 2022 | Kirk Petersen
The governing body of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) published a “sincere and unconditional apology” March 13 to three individuals for failing to safeguard their confidentiality in the wake of their reports of sexual abuse by ordained members of the clergy. But at least one of the three believes the church has not gone far enough.
Anglican Church of Canada leaders apologize to survivors, respond to ACCtoo
Anglican Church of Canada leaders responded on Sunday (March 13) to an open letter issued by ACCToo, an advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse in the church.
The statement, written by the church’s Council of General Synod, followed “several hours” of “intensive and extensive discussion” about ACCToo’s letter.
CoGS to discuss #ACCtoo Letter
March 7, 2022 | Sean Frankling
The Council of General Synod (CoGS) is slated to discuss this week an open letter claiming senior church officials failed to protect the identities of alleged victims of sexual assault.
“Elected members of the council will discuss the letter at their upcoming meeting,” Joe Vecsi, the Anglican Church of Canada’s communications director, confirmed Friday.
ACCtoo calls Anglican Church of Canada to repent for mishandling abuse allegations
In 2021, Cydney Proctor had spent more than a decade seeking justice for the repeated sexual misconduct she alleges she experienced at the hands of three leaders in the Anglican Church of Canada in the dioceses of Brandon, Ontario, and Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island beginning when she was 17. For years, she tried to go through formal church channels, reporting the allegations to several bishops and ACC leaders, but had gotten nowhere.
Church of Canada Faces Sex Abuse Allegations
February 18, 2022 | Kirk Petersen
A senior official of the Anglican Church of Canada allegedly failed to safeguard the confidentiality of “three survivors of sexual violence perpetrated by men ordained as clergy” in the ACC, according to an open letter posted on a new website, ACCtoo, on February 17.
In an interview with TLC, the co-authors of the website said they had chosen to air the allegations publicly after nearly a year of seeking accountability from church leadership.
Anglican Journal loses editor, writer
September 1, 2021 | Anglican Journal Staff
The Anglican Journal found itself editorless this summer with the resignation of Matthew Townsend June 11. The same month also saw the departure of staff writer Joelle Kidd, on June 10.
In a statement emailed to General Synod staff, director of communications and information resources Joe Vecsi said Townsend had “demonstrated compassion and a commitment to exceptional journalism” throughout his tenure, which among other things saw the launch of the electronic magazine Epiphanies.