With regret and sorrow, the Church announces receipt of allegations of sexual misconduct concerning Archbishop Mark MacDonald, who has resigned as National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop in the Anglican Church of Canada, and formally relinquished the exercise of the ordained ministry pursuant to Canon XIX, effective April 20, 2022.
In keeping with A Call to Human Dignity, the Council of General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada expressed the Church’s commitment to ensure that:
- All our workplaces are free from violence, coercion, discrimination, and sexual harassment.
- No one is subjected to sexual misconduct of any kind.
- We deal promptly, seriously and systematically with all complaints of sexual misconduct.
- Those who hold positions of trust or power in the church do not take advantage of, or abuse that trust.
We also remain committed to the Safe Church Charter of the Anglican Communion (adopted by General Synod in 2019) and to the need to continually review and improve our policies, training and practices. At General Synod we are currently reviewing our sexual harassment policy with respect to training and procedures to ensure that our policy is effective and appropriate.
We extend, with sorrow, our prayers for healing to all those involved as we deal with the consequences of this situation. We continue to work for respect and dignity in all our relationships.