Anthony Edward Pierce (born 16 January 1941) is a Welsh former

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

bishop and convicted sex offender. He served as the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon in the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

from 1999 to 2008. In 2025, he was convicted of five counts of

indecent assault Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault. England and Wales Indecent assault was a broa ...

on a teenage boy and was sentenced to 4 years and 1 month in prison.

Early life and education

Pierce was born on 16 January 1941. He was educated at

Dynevor School, Swansea Dynevor School was a secondary school in Swansea, Wales, at times co-educational and at others for boys only. It was closed in 2002. The school's premises have been re-developed and are now used by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UW ...

. He studied at

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

and

Linacre College, Oxford Linacre College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college was founded in 1962 and is named after Thomas Linacre (1460–1524), founder of the Royal College of Ph ...

. He trained for ordination at

Ripon College Cuddesdon Ripon College Cuddesdon (RCC) is a Church of England seminary, theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local orda ...

Career

He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1966. In

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

he held curacies at St Peter's Church (1965–1967) and at

St Mary's Church, Swansea Swansea Minster (), or formally the Minster Church of St. Mary Swansea with Holy Trinity, and formerly St Mary's Church, is an Anglican Minster church in the centre of Swansea, Wales. It is considered the civic church of Swansea. It was designat ...

(1967–1974), before being appointed

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Llwynderw in 1974 - a position he held until 1992. He was then chaplain of Singleton Hospital (1980-1995), Secretary of the Diocesan Conference (1991-1995) and Diocesan Director of Education (1992-1999). Pierce served as Archdeacon of Gower from 1995 to 1999 and Rector of

a from 1996 to 1999 when he became Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. He legally became Bishop when his

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

was

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on of hands. Catholicis ...

by the Sacred Synod of the Church in Wales at their April 1999 meeting; he was later ordained to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

(consecrated) and enthroned at

Brecon Cathedral Brecon Cathedral (), in the town of Brecon, Powys, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon in the Church in Wales and seat of the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. Previously the church of Brecon Priory and then the Parish Church of S ...

. He retired in 2008. In 2002 he was admitted to the

Order of St John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

, being later elevated to

KStJ The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

. He is no longer a member. On 10 December 2016, celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Anthony's ordination as a priest took place at

where he had served as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

, and then rector of

, before he was ordained to the

Sexual abuse

In October 2023, Pierce was arrested after allegations of abuse were made against him by a victim who had been a teenager at the time of the abuse. In February 2025, he pleaded guilty to five counts of

on a boy under the age of 16; they occurred between 1985 and 1990 when he was a

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

in the West Cross area of Swansea. In March 2025, he was jailed for 4 years and 1 month, and will be on the sex-offenders register for life. Following his conviction, the Church in Wales began disciplinary action against Pierce, with John Lomas, the present Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, saying he will ask the Disciplinary Tribunal to depose him from Holy Orders. A separate allegation of sexual abuse by Pierce had been reported to senior figures in the church in 1993. Police, however, were only informed of that allegation in 2010, by which time the alleged victim had died. In the mean time, he was promoted to archdeacon in 1995 and elected a bishop in 1999. In relation to this allegation during a historic cases review between 2009 and 2010, the Church of Wales removed his

permission to officiate A permission to officiate (PTO), also known as a licence to officiate, is a concessionary ministry licence granted by an Anglican bishop. It is most commonly issued to a retired deacon, priest, or lay reader over the age of 70 years. It allows the ...

but this was restored in 2011. Then in 2016, his permission to officiate was once more removed.

References

Other sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Anthony Edward Bishops of Swansea and Brecon Clergy from Swansea 1941 births People educated at Dynevor School, Swansea Alumni of Swansea University Alumni of Linacre College, Oxford Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon Archdeacons of Gower 20th-century bishops of the Church in Wales 21st-century bishops of the Church in Wales Living people Child sexual abuse scandals in Anglicanism English people convicted of child sexual abuse English people convicted of indecent assault Religious figures convicted of child sexual abuse