Following The Canons To Bede Parry

Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

In 2004 the Bishop of Nevada, Katharine Jefferts Schori, received a former Roman Catholic priest, Bede Parry, as a priest in TEC. What made this instance of a relatively common phenomenon remarkable is that Parry had sexually abused minors under his care as a Catholic priest, he had been barred from exercising his ministry in the Catholic Church, and this was known to the Bishop of Nevada when she received him into TEC.

The question of how a former Roman Catholic priest who has admitted to repeated abuse of minors under his care and who agreed to be laicized could have been received into TEC as a priest has been much discussed. It is startling that the Diocese of Nevada acknowledges that it was aware of his past misconduct, including a police report, prior to his reception, but proffers the reassurance that the Bishop and Commission on Ministry

did not decide to put children at risk. By accepting Fr. Bede as a priest, they were determining that he was not a threat to children.

Few have found this very reassuring, especially since a near-contemporaneous psychological evaluation made by the Roman Catholic Church shortly before Parry began his process of reception into TEC found that he had a “proclivity to re-offend with minors.” Indeed, notwithstanding the prior determination of safety by the diocese, Parry immediately tendered his resignation as a priest in TEC—characterized by ENS as Parry’s “renouncing his orders”—the moment his past conduct became public knowledge.  the rest