Anthony Pierce Review Published

The Church in Wales has published the findings of a detailed review into the way in which Anthony Pierce, the former Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, was appointed to senior church roles in the 1990s despite senior clergy knowing of sexual abuse allegations against him.

Mr Pierce, who was Bishop between 1999 and 2008, was jailed for four years in March last year after admitting separate sexual offences against a boy aged under 16, committed between 1985 and 1990, when he was a parish priest in the West Cross area of Swansea.

When those offences were admitted in 2025, the Church in Wales reviewed how issues relating to Mr Pierce had been handled in the past and found that senior clergy had apparently been aware of sexual abuse allegations against him when he was appointed Archdeacon in 1995 and then Bishop of Swansea and Brecon in 1999. These allegations were not reported to the police until 2010. As a result, the Church appointed Gabrielle Higgins to carry out a review which has now been published.

While the review was being prepared, the Church in Wales has also taken forward a referral to its Disciplinary Tribunal. As a result of the Tribunal’s findings, the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, the Rt Revd John Lomas, has deposed Mr Pierce from holy orders and he is no longer a priest of the Church in Wales. The decision can be viewed here.

Responding to the review, The Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Cherry Vann, said: “The welfare of the victims of sexual abuse must always be our paramount concern, and we offer our most heartfelt apologies to those who have been failed by the Church in the past.

“I want to thank Gabrielle Higgins for her painstaking and conscientious work on this review, which has engaged in a deep examination of complex and difficult issues dating back many decades. We owe her a debt of gratitude for the thoroughly professional way with which she has approached this challenging task.

“The review shows in painful detail the missed opportunities, the harmful assumptions and the inadequate processes which characterised the Church’s response to these allegations of abuse for far too long.

“This catalogue of failures can only be a source of shame for the Church and will have caused further trauma to abuse victims and their families.

“While the safeguarding processes of the Church in Wales have improved immeasurably since the periods covered by the review, there is no room for complacency, and we are committed to ensuring that our processes always follow current best practice.

“I welcome and fully accept the review’s findings and recommendations, and we are implementing all the changes that need to be made.”

The Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, the Rt Revd John Lomas, said: “The trauma experienced by victims of abuse within the Church is made all the worse by the breach of trust they have suffered, and, as this review has shown, by the failings of the Church as an institution.

“While nothing can undo the wrongs of the past, and while we can only apologise unreservedly for the failings this review has brought to light, we hope that this review will go some way towards showing our determination to be clear and robust in ensuring these issues can never happen again.

“It is only through doing the right thing that we can begin to restore confidence in the Church, and the publication of this review, and our commitment to the actions arising from it, shows that we are resolved to do that.”

Professor Medwin Hughes, Chair of the Representative Body of the Church in Wales, said: “In commissioning this review, the Church in Wales has shown its willingness to confront its past failings and to ensure that its processes are fit for purpose for the present and the future.

“It is true that enormous progress has been made with safeguarding within the Church since the events covered by this review. But there is work still to do, and we are determined that all the necessary changes will be made as swiftly as possible.

“Throughout this process, the interests of victims and their families are central, and I know the Church in Wales’s safeguarding team is working hard to ensure the best possible response for anyone reporting abuse or concerns within the Church in Wales.

“The lessons highlighted in this review are hard ones, but we intend to ensure that they are learned thoroughly and applied consistently, so that the circumstances this review has uncovered can never reoccur.”

A spokesperson for the Church in Wales said:

“The Church in Wales is determined to demonstrate that it is a safe place, and that anyone coming forward will have their concerns or disclosures taken seriously, treated with compassion, and taken forward according to the highest current standards. If our people and processes have failed victims and survivors of abuse in the past, we intend to take responsibility for that fact and to fully apply the lessons which have been learned.

“There is no place for any form of abuse in the Church in Wales. We give the highest priority to the care and protection of children and vulnerable people in our communities. To this end we regularly review our safeguarding procedures and provide extensive training to staff and volunteers”.

Anyone with safeguarding concerns to contact a member of our team via the Church in Wales website:

Web: https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/safeguarding/reporting-safeguarding-concern/

Tel: 02920 348200

Alternatively, Safe Spaces is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space for anyone who has been abused through their relationship with either the Church of England, the Catholic Church in England and Wales or the Church in Wales. You can contact the Safe Spaces team by:

Web: www.safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk

Tel: 0300 303 1056 (answerphone available outside of opening times)

Email: safespaces@firstlight.org.uk

Anyone with concerns or information about this case should contact South Wales Police on 101.