A FORMER Bishop of Swansea & Brecon has appeared at Swansea Crown Court, charged with sexual offences, the Church in Wales reports. The Rt Revd Anthony Pierce, 84, pleaded guilty to 5 counts of indecent assault on a male child under the age of 16. The offences date from the period between 1985 and 1990, when he was a parish priest in West Cross, Swansea.
Bishop Pierce, who was Bishop of Swansea & Brecon from 1999 until 2008, was remanded on bail. He is predicted to be sentenced on 7 March.
The allegations got here to light in 2023 when the survivor made a disclosure to a Church in Wales safeguarding officer. The disclosure was passed to the police for further investigation. The Church in Wales Disciplinary Tribunal will consider further motion once sentencing has taken place.
The Church in Wales issued a press release on Friday, acknowledging the bravery of the survivor in coming forward, and thanking the police and other statutory partners for his or her “careful work” on the case.
“The Church in Wales is appalled on the offences which have been revealed on this case and expresses its deepest sympathy with the victim for the abuse they’ve suffered,” the statement said. “It is a explanation for probably the most profound shame that a priest within the Church in Wales must have been convicted of such shocking crimes. Our prayers are with the survivor and with all victims of abuse, whose welfare should be at the guts of our work. We hope that the style with which the disclosure was handled when it got here to light in 2023 will give confidence that the Church is serious about dealing firmly and decisively with any such cases.”
According to the statement, an internal investigation undertaken after the disclosure suggests that, in 1993, a small variety of members of the Church in Wales had been aware of “an extra allegation against Mr Pierce”, but that this was not shared with the police until 2010. The Church in Wales Safeguarding Committee has now commissioned an independent external review of the Church in Wales’s handling of this second allegation.
“The review may also consider how safeguarding allegations are handled within the Church’s current systems for the appointment of Archdeacons and Bishops and whether any changes to those processes are vital,” the statement continues. The terms of reference for this review will likely be published shortly on the Church in Wales website.
“The Church in Wales is set to exhibit that it’s a protected place, and that anyone coming forward can have their concerns or disclosures taken seriously, treated with compassion, and brought forward in response to the best current standards. If our people and processes have failed victims and survivors of abuse up to now, we intend to take responsibility for that fact and to completely apply the teachings which have been learned.
“There isn’t any place for any type of abuse within the Church in Wales. We give the best priority to the care and protection of youngsters and vulnerable people in our communities. To this end we recurrently review our safeguarding procedures and supply extensive training to staff and volunteers.”
