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The Ecumenical Catholic Church
United Kingdom

CLERGY TRAINING AND STANDARDS

(The following is an outline of the procedures defined in the canons of the ECC UK which will be published in full at a later date.)

Over the centuries various ways of testing and training those who have received God's call to service have been developed.

The best of these are the seminaries run by the larger churches, which combine Spiritual, Pastoral and Academic development. Sadly these are not available to us at present.

Where someone, man or woman, comes to us with a proven background of at least three years of major seminary training they will be considered as candidates for ordination and will continue their training in a mutually agreed fashion.

Those who offer themselves without such a background will have a package of training tailored to their needs and with a necessary minimum standard to be achieved before formal candidacy begins.

Those who were ordained within another communion such as Rome, Canterbury or the East, will, after the necessary criminal and personal record checks, be granted faculties to exercise their ministry to the full within the ECC UK. Such faculties shall, at first, be annual, becoming "permanent unless revoked" after five years.

(Personal record checks shall include, where possible and practicable, a contact with the former ordinary.)

The progression to priesthood follows the pattern set in the recent Roman reforms, candidate, lector, acolyte, deacon and priest.

The election and consecration of Bishops shall be according to the adopted canons and only where pastoral need dictates. All ordinations, including Bishops, shall follow the Reformed Roman Ritual.

In all the above, as in the following, our intention is to strive for the highest moral, pastoral and spiritual standards in our clergy that they may be guided only by the desire to tend the flock of Christ.

Moral standards of Clergy

In the light of modern scandals and the focus of the media on the behaviour of the few we wish to be absolutely clear and unimpeachable in this matter. To this end the following norms shall and do apply to all who serve as clergy or volunteers in the ECC UK;:

1. An enhanced disclosure from the Criminal Records Board shall be required for all clergy, including the Bishop who already holds one. Such disclosures shall be held by the Bishop and kept up to date every three years. The Bishop's own disclosure is to be available for scrutiny on reasonable request.

2. Any cleric or volunteer against whom an accusation of abuse or sexual misconduct is made shall immediately be suspended from all public duties and contact with the vulnerable. The matter shall be reported to the civil authorities and their recommendations acted upon.

3. In the case of conviction a minor cleric or volunteer shall be dismissed and permanently disbarred from seeking further office. A Deacon or Priest shall be immediately relieved of all authority to preach or celebrate any of the sacraments and shall never be allowed to function publicly as deacon or priest again.

4. In the light of, and following the demands of justice and Charity, a priest or deacon subsequently cleared on appeal or shown in some concrete way to be innocent shall be re-instated. Also, those convicted and having served their civil punishment, shall, if true remorse is shown, be considered eligible to apply for admission to a monastic community where, providing they do not have contact with the public, they may be helped to return to the spiritual perfection demanded of their orders. This point is mindful of the Augustinian tenet "Sacerdos in aeternum". Which recognises the indelible charism of order. It is also mindful of our duty to forgive the sinner and help him or her to achieve salvation.

5. All the above applies equally to the Bishop, who shall, by law, step aside once a formal accusation is made to civil or ecclesiastical authority, and shall only resume his position if cleared and vindicated. Such vindication must be to the satisfaction of civil authority and the governing Synod of the ECC UK. Should the Bishop be convicted he is de iure removed from office and a "Sede Vacante" declared by the senior cleric of the diocese. The process for replacing the Bishop then comes in to force as though he had died.

GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN THE CLERGY

The ECC UK recognises no difference between the genders. ALL are children of God, and God can call all to His service and that of His Flock. We therefore do not hold gender as a barrier to ordination. Further we consider the argument on this question to be one of law and tradition, not theology.

Whilst there is truth in the argument that Jesus did not call women to be Apostles it is also true that He acted totally within the cultural bounds of his time. Had Jesus come in the 21st century it might well have been different.

Exactly the same argument can be applied to sexuality and orientation. These are part of the make up of human personality and can therefore seen as a gift from God. The same rules apply to homosexuals as heterosexuals, that their practices be founded in love not lust. This means that the lifestyles of clergy, both gay and straight, should be exemplary in every way. In this they become true teachers by example and their moral guidance is based in love not hypocritical preaching of a party line that they do not themselves observe.

Celibacy for the clergy is, along with marital chastity, an option. Certainly St Paul recognised it as a counsel of perfection, but its imposition has to be seen as cruel and unnatural.