By ninemsn staff
Anglican clergy and church workers who cheat on their spouses will be listed in a national church register of sex offenders, according to a Sydney newspaper.
The extra-martial sex lives of clergy from Sydney — and possibly Melbourne — will be subject to special scrutiny as the diocese plan to record any infidelities on their new register.
"We don't want to go snooping around in people's bedrooms," the director of the Sydney diocese's professional standards, Philip Gerber, said to the Sydney Morning Herald.
"On the other hand, both the people in the church and presumably the community expect ministers will be faithful to their spouses."
Mr Gerber said the register, to be introduced next March, would distinguish between rumours and formal written complaints about clergy and church workers who have sex outside of marriage.
Clerical chastity is part of the Anglican Church's voluntary code of conduct.
Although Sydney and Melbourne are the only dioceses to signal keeping track of adulterers in their ranks, all Anglican dioceses will record complaints of child abuse.
The database will allow church authorities to screen priests and lay workers for complaints of neglect and emotional and physical abuse of children, even those unproven.
The move represents an attempt to reclaim moral standing in the community, after being eroded by a series of sex scandals among Christian churches.
The chairman of the church's professional standards commission, Garth Blake, said: "I have a vision that churches in Australia, instead of being known for how they have failed children, might be known for how they care for them," he said.
The register will not be available to the wider church membership, with access restricted to the three senior church authorities in each diocese.
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