Archbishop commits to establishing "best-practice, 21st-century safeguarding and enforcement of discipline"

Joint meeting of the Synod of Bishops, Canon Law Council, Chancellors and Registrars

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Introductory remarks

22^nd February 2025

Canon Lawyers,

Bishops of the Province,

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

A verse from the book of the Prophet Isaiah, contemplating the wickedness of Judah:

Learn to do good;

seek justice,

rescue the oppressed,

defend the orphan,

plead for the widow. (Is. 1:17)

With those words, beautifully capturing our vocation as church to speak and act for those who can’t, I warmly welcome you to this meeting.

I am deeply thankful to each one of you for being here, since before us are gathered some of the best pastoral, theological and legal minds of our church, who are invited to address issues which – although they are uncomfortable to deal with – are absolutely critical to the most vulnerable members of our parishes and our society, and therefore to the integrity of the pastoral care we provide to our people and to the credibility of our witness as a moral force in society.

The challenges of keeping people safe from abuse and the effective implementation of our pastoral standards and disciplinary measures have been propelled to the top of our agenda, firstly because of the scourge of gender-based violence and the abuse of children prevalent in our society today, and secondly because recent events have made it clear that we need urgently to deal decisively with past abuse in the church, rather than wait for crises to blow up.

Many of you will have read of the recent Human Sciences Research Council report which found that, in South Africa, one in every three women report being abused at some time in their lives. Now, on many issues affecting the welfare and daily lives of our members – such as jobs, poor service delivery, corruption and other failings – we can campaign and urge the authorities to take action. But when it comes to abuse, whether of women, girls or boys, we can intervene far more effectively, because our pastoral relationships with our congregants draw us into the heart of the crisis. Dr Mamphela Ramphele, a member of the Order of Cyrene, speaks powerfully to this, and so she will address the Bishops on it during our meeting.

As we face these challenges, we are fortunate to have a strong basis on which to build, notably the inclusion of the pastoral standards into our Canons which began two decades ago. Bishop Michael Nuttall, a former Dean of the Province, acknowledged on the WhatsApp group for retired bishops recently that he was among those who was initially sceptical of the initiative, but who now acknowledges its importance. I personally was challenged when a case burst into the open in 2018. A survivor of abuse strongly criticised Archbishop Desmond Tutu for his alleged inaction on past abuse, and the Archbishop Emeritus's response was to declare that he had the “utmost faith” in my commitment “to hold those clergy accused of wrongdoing to account, and support those whose trust in the clergy has been betrayed.”¹

That case, and the establishment of the Anglican Communion Safe Church Commission in 2016, helped to carry forward our safeguarding initiatives. But, as the Farlam-Ramphele report published earlier this month found, we have not done enough. Since the full report and a summary are available on the Provincial website, just two quotes from it will suffice here:

One refers to what the report describes as “the disturbing delay... at least since 2018, in fully implementing measures evolved over two decades to grapple effectively with abuse within the church and church-related institutions, such as schools and children’s homes.” The other says: “We consider that the delays in implementation since 2016 of Safe Church are a cause for serious concern, raising the risk that similar or other abusive conduct goes undetected and is not the subject of effective protective measures.”

In my response to the report, I accepted its findings without reservation. As a result, as we implement its recommendations, the delays come to an end at this meeting, with the formal establishment the Safe and Inclusive Church Commission as mandated by Provincial Synod. In spite of the delays, a dedicated team volunteered some years ago to undertake the hard work of launching Safe Church, handling cases and nurturing its growth. We owe the founding team an enormous debt of gratitude and pledge to build on their efforts, learning from them and ensuring that the transition is as smooth as it can be, involving as it must the continuation and extension of efforts to develop relevant pastoralia, teaching materials and training.

When I announced the appointment of the panel which produced the recent report, I told the congregation at Emmanuel Church in Wynberg that as licensed ministers of the Gospel, we have the privilege of journeying with people at the most critical moments in their lives. I added: “For someone in the church, which is meant to be a safe and nurturing space, to prey on God's children when they are at their most vulnerable is not only wrong, it is not only criminal, which it often is, it is evil beyond description. It makes me want to weep.”

That is what motivates me now in challenging firstly us as Bishops; in challenging secondly those of you, as the Canons say, who are “learned in the law” and who provide outstanding, self-sacrificial service to the Church; and in challenging thirdly those engaged in safeguarding, to take fully on board and to implement the recommendations we have before us.

I have two years to serve before my retirement. As I said when I received the report, I cannot bequeath the current state of safeguarding to my successor. As a result, one of my top priorities will be to ensure that the Canon Law Council and the Safe and Inclusive Church Commission update our legislation, regulations and procedures so that best-practice, 21st-century safeguarding and the enforcement of discipline each have their appropriate place. Another priority will be for me and the Bishops concerned to address and resolve specific cases.

As outlined in my response to the Farlam/Ramphele report, there are concrete steps that this meeting of the Synod of Bishops can take to demonstrate our determination to introduce safeguarding in every Parish in the Province, to hold parishes accountable to Dioceses, to hold Dioceses accountable to the Province and to Safe Church, and to hold ourselves responsible to other institutions outside ACSA to keep people safe.

Let me end these introductory remarks on a note of hope. The first step in addressing a crisis and resolving a problem is identifying it, and I believe that with the help of many people both inside and outside the church in recent months and years, we have done that. As I said earlier this month and now repeat, we cannot allow ourselves to be defined by setbacks. We need to repent, then move forward, defined by hope and compelled by our faith to take action to root out abuse.

The Incarnation provides for us an important understanding of a God who enters the daily “scuffle” of our lives to liberate us. God enters the world because the Church, Christ’s bride, is charged with ensuring that the worth and dignity of those who are created in God’s image are respected.

When I conclude a Synod I pray that “No harm may befall God’s church because of our decisions”. The establishment of sound and effective safeguarding measures, backed by Canon Law, will ensure that the vulnerable, the lonely, the young and the old, are not preyed upon, harmed or abused, but that they will flourish as is God’s intention, stated in John, that all will have life, and have it abundantly (Jn 10:10). So let us, as people who are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps 139:14), build a church in which no stumbling blocks will ever be put before anyone who believes in Christ (Matthew 18:6).

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1 https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2018/03/the-churchs-response-to-writer-ishtiyaq.html