A group representing some of the abuse victims of Mark Rivera, a former lay minister at a diocese of the Upper Midwest church plant in Illinois, have published a series of demands asking they be given control of the investigation process.
#ACNAtoo published an open letter yesterday addressed to the Most Rev. Foley Beach, primate of the ACNA laying out demands. They asked the Upper Midwest Diocesan Council be dissolved, two diocesan staffers placed on leave, the right to approve any outside investigators, and editorial control over the final report. They have also demanded to know if the Rt. Rev. Stewart Ruch is being paid while on administrative leave, and have asked that he be dismissed from office if he is shown to have acted improperly.
“We ask that you commit publicly not to hire an investigative firm until the #ACNAtoo survivors and their advocacy team have approved both the firm, scope, and parameters of the investigation,” the group said in its letter. “Likewise, we ask to be given the opportunity to correct any public statements made about the investigation before they are published.”
Responding on twitter, Archbishop Beach said he would look into their demands and respond accordingly.
