A Bill aimed at extending the provisions of the Constitution of the Church of Ireland in relation to the permanent incapacity of members of the clergy on medical grounds has received it first and second readings at General Synod this afternoon (Thursday May 7).

The Bill was proposed by the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe and Mr Kevin Bowers at the request of the Standing Committee and Representative Church Body. It aims to modernise and extend the provisions of Section 34 Chapter IV of the Constitution. This section currently provides for circumstances where a member of the clergy is unable to fulfil the duties of his or her office due to ‘permanent mental infirmity’. If approved, the provisions of section 34 will be expanded to include permanent physical as well as mental incapacity.

Proposing the Bill, Bishop Ken Good explained that the premise of the Bill was that Section 34, in its current form, did not make proper provision for the care of clergy and their families, and, at the same time, provided the potential for clergy to become stranded in their current post, to their detriment and to the detriment of the parish.

He said that Section 34 was not a perfect solution as it only dealt with mental illness and did not provide for physical illness and made no mention of a medical opinion being sought.

The change is that, under these proposals, the decision would be made by a Church panel on the basis of medical evidence, rather than by the Court of General Synod as has historically been the case, the Bishop said. Under these proposals, the member of the clergy would be able to appeal the decision of the Church panel.

“This Bill also recognises that circumstances in health can change and improve. Medical prognosis and available medial treatments may change. So this Bill is not about a resignation from ministry, but a resignation from office. Changed circumstances in the future can also be envisaged, with the potential for ministry to be resumed,” Bishop Good stated.

The Bill passed its first and second readings and will go to its third stage on Saturday morning.

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