Letter queries Sizer ban

Retired Anglican vicar Stephen Sizer has been banned from ministry for 12 years following an Ecclesiastical ruling that he had engaged in anti-Semitic conduct.

Dr Sizer was vicar of Christ Church, Virginia Water for 20 years, until his retirement in 2017. A long-running controversy around allegations of anti-Semitism culminated in a ruling in December 2022 of the Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal for the Diocese of Winchester.

The tribunal ruled that he had ‘provoked and offended the Jewish community’ and ‘engaged in anti-Semitic activity’ in sharing an online article suggesting Jews were behind the 9/11 attacks. He was also found to have engaged in conduct unbecoming of a clerk in Holy Orders.