Sex-Offending Priests Are Doing Freelance Funerals

According to several members of the clergy in the UK, some funeral directors are knowingly hiring freelance celebrants with sex-offending pasts, and there are no rules that prohibit them from doing so. The issue was brought to light at a recent meeting of members of the Church of England in York. During the meeting, Reverend Canon David Banting, a vicar, expressed his concerns about the increase in funeral directors hiring independent funeral celebrants, claiming some of them "may be suspended Church of England clergy," according to a report published by the Telegraph.

Other clergyman at the meeting echoed the vicar's worries, and Dr. Peter Rouch, an archdeacon, more explicitly claimed, "We have some funeral directors [who], even though advised by the police of an individual with sexual offenses against children, continue to use that person for funerals," alluding to a case in which a funeral director allegedly ignored police warnings and employed a vicar who was under investigation for sexual abuse abroad.

Deborah Smith, a PR representative for the UK's National Association of Funeral Directors, confirms that funeral directors do often use independent celebrants rather than the parish vicars, who are approved by the church.

There are several reasons why. "Sometimes it is because there is a particular member of the clergy that is the choice of the family—perhaps a popular retired local priest, a friend of the family, or someone from another area that is connected with the person that has died," Smith says. "However, sometimes it is a more practical issue, such as where it is not possible to use the parish priest at the chosen time/date, as they are busy covering several parishes due to the current shortage of clergy."

The UK currently has no laws that demand freelancers employed by funeral directors go through a background check with the country's Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), a government department that conducts criminal record checks for employers. Some members of the clergy are hoping to change that, though, and according to the Telegraph, clergy members with the Church of England have plans to lobby members of Parliament for better regulation of the UK funeral industry.

Until then, Philip Spicksley, the president of the UK's Association of Independent Civil Celebrants, tells the Telegraph that the decision to hire sex-offending former priests rests entirely on the funeral directors. "Any family engaging a celebrant through a funeral director should ensure they ask questions of the funeral director that the person is a member of a reputable and regulated association with proper insurance," he says.

Several clergymen mentioned in the Telegraph article did not return Broadly's request for comment.