Iceland bishop denies abuse cover-up: The Church of England Newspaper, June 24, 2011 p 6.

The Rt. Rev. Ólafur Skúlason, former Bishop of Iceland

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Bishop of Iceland has rebuffed calls that he step down following the release of an internal report sharply critical of his handling of a clergy sexual abuse case.  Bishop Karl Sigurbjörnsson’s inaction in response to accusations of rape leveled against his predecessor Bishop Ólafur Skúlason, was tantamount to a “conspiracy of silence,” the Church of Iceland’s Investigative Commission found.

Bishop Sigurbjörnsson apologized for his part in the scandal, and for the church’s dilatory response, but argued there was no intent to cover up or excuse misconduct.  He urged the June 14 special meeting of synod to put recriminations aside as the Church of Iceland, a full communion partner with the Church of England under the Porvoo Agreement, did not know how to handle abuse claims in the 1990’s.

“Now we have to look at our work in honesty and mark a new and clear policy,” the bishop told the Icelandic television network RUV on June 14.

In 1996 three women accused Bishop Skúlason of rape.  The Church of Iceland Council and the Deans’ Society rejected the accusations and issued statements of support for their bishop.  In 1997 Bishop Skúlason resigned as bishop and Bishop Sigurbjörnsson was elected head of the state Lutheran church, which numbers 79.18 per cent of the Icelandic nation as registered members.

A year after Bishop Skúlason’s death in 2008, his daughter wrote to Bishop Sigurbjörnsson stating she had been molested by her father when she was a teenager.  She asked to meet with the Church Council—the Icelandic church’s governing body led by the bishop—to discuss her case.  However, the bishop did not respond to her letter for over a year and the commission found her letter had been held back from the bishop’s official register of correspondence for several months.

The investigation committee said the bishop should have reacted sooner to the allegations of abuse and called for the introduction of sexual abuse guidelines covering clergy misconduct.

The June 14 synod meeting passed a resolution supporting their bishop, but the chairman of the meeting told Icelandic television that the fall meeting of synod would likely take up changes to the structures of the church, including removing the bishop as chairman of the church council in favor of an elected lay man or woman.

The Rev. Sigrídur Gudmarsdóttir, the vicar of Grafarholtsprestakall, released a statement after the meeting calling upon the bishop to resign She told the Morgunbladid the bishop should put the interests of the church over his career.

“The Bishop of Iceland should recognize that it will serve the church better if someone else is to take over his duties. The longer he remains in office, the more damage it will cause the church,” Mrs. Gudmarsdóttir said.