Religious leaders urged to uphold moral uprightness, discipline

The head of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (ECSS), the Most Rev Dr. Justin Badi Arama. (Courtesy photo)

The head of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (ECSS), the Most Rev Dr. Justin Badi Arama, on Wednesday called upon religious leaders to promote moral uprightness among the people they serve.

He stated the resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury after facing increasing pressure to stand down over his failure to report prolific child abuser John Smyth.

This comes after an investigation found that Welby failed to tell police about serial physical, sexual, and spiritual abuse by a volunteer leader as soon as he became aware of it in 2013.

In a statement to the media, Dr. Badi stressed the need for religious leaders to exercise their professional responsibilities in upholding moral principles.

“There has never been a more challenging time for global Anglicans to come together, and for senior church leaders to exercise their professional responsibilities to review and upgrade their safeguarding procedures, and to be held accountable for timely oversight and church discipline,” he said.

The prelate stressed the need to foster biblical and spiritual principles for church safety.

“As we proceed with the Cairo Covenant, our fellowship will hold fast to paramount biblical and spiritual principles, including those of fostering a safe church, implementing oversight over best safeguarding procedures in the interests of all groups, parishioners, stakeholders, and vulnerable persons who operate within the Anglican Communion,” Dr. Badi added.

He said they recognize the observations, findings, and recommendations of the Makin Report, including the danger of a church culture in which what is expedient takes priority over the values for which the Church stands.

A damning independent review published last week found Mr. Welby, the most senior bishop within the Church of England, and other church officers should have formally reported Smyth in 2013 to police in the UK and authorities in South Africa.

Smyth was accused of attacking dozens of boys, including those he met at Christian camps, in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.

Smyth, a barrister and senior member of a Christian charity, then moved to Zimbabwe and later South Africa, where he abused up to 100 boys aged 13 to 17, the Makin review added.

By 2013, the Church of England “knew, at the highest level” about Smyth’s abuse, including Mr. Welby who took up the Church’s top job that year.