Wayne Hankey

Wayne John Hankey (November 7, 1944 – February 5, 2022) was a Canadian religious philosopher. Hankey had a lengthy career in academia, holding the title of professor emeritus in the Classics department at Dalhousie University until charged with historic sexual assault in February 2021. Hankey died on February 5, 2022, before standing trial on sexual abuse charges.

Early life and education

Hankey was raised in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. He studied classics, philosophy, and theology at University of King's College, Dalhousie University, Trinity College, the University of Toronto, and Oxford University.

During his time as a student at King's, Hankey was a founder of the university's student union and one of its first presidents.

Career

Hankey spent several years conducting research in Rome and Paris and held research positions at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Boston College. In 1981 he completed his doctoral studies in theology at the University of Oxford, St. Peter's College, with his thesis "The Structure of the first forty-five Questions of St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae" and was later ordained a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. For many years, until being suspended from public ministry and then becoming a Roman Catholic, Hankey was a staunch opponent against reforms in the Anglican Church.

In 1965 he was first hired by Dalhousie University to teach second-year Greek, and he would continue to teach university classes for more than 45 years, including four years at York University. He initiated the foundation year program at the University of King's College and was the program's first director from 1972 to 1978. He also designed and spearheaded the development and subsequent construction of the university's new library during his time as librarian of the college (1981–1993). He was responsible for the creation of the religious studies program at Dalhousie University and for seven years until 2015 chaired the Department of Classics with Religious Studies and Arabic.

Hankey published four books and edited seven volumes. His first monograph, God in himself : Aquinas' doctrine of God as expounded in the "Summa theologiae", treated the Neoplatonic sources and structure of the doctrine of God in the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas and was published by Oxford University Press in 1987; OUP republished it in 2000 in its Oxford Scholarly Classics series. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 552 libraries. Since his book One Hundred Years of Neoplatonism in France: A Brief Philosophical History he published three jointly-edited volumes and has in press "Aquinas' Neoplatonism in the Summa Theologiae on God. A Short Introduction", South Bend, Indiana, St Augustine's Press. He published almost 100 academic articles and reviews, and produced many journalistic, theological, and devotional publications and addresses. Since 1997, he was secretary and editor of Dionysius.

Following his retirement, Hankey was appointed Professor Emeritus in Classics at Dalhousie University and taught one evening seminar each academic term, prior to February 2021 when he agreed to step down from the course in light of criminal accusations.

Legal history

1990—91: Allegations of impropriety

In 1990 David Harris, who graduated from King's in 1981 and was then an editor for the Chronicle Herald, made an official complaint to both the University of King's College and the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia alleging sexual impropriety by Hankey dating from the 1970s during his time as an undergraduate. Harris was 32 at the time of the accusation and the abuses were alleged to have happened when he was a teenager, although it is unclear whether he was a minor. The accusation was made only before the Anglican Diocese and the college; it was not a criminal complaint, and did not involve police or the provincial courts.

The ecclesiastical court, appointed by Bishop Arthur Peters and made up of two priests and a layman, convened in August 1991, and finding Harris' claims credible convicted Hankey on charges of sexual immorality. Hankey was deprived of ecclesiastical duties, and although he remained a priest in the Anglican Church he no longer had any authority to function as one, as he was suspended from practicing any office related to the priesthood or from receiving any benefits of such office.

In separate proceedings, Hankey was faulted by a King's College disciplinary committee and suspended from the university for one year (the sentence was to take place one year following the committee's ruling, when Hankey was scheduled to return from a year's sabbatical). The incident allegedly occurred in student housing on the University of King's College campus. Hankey was an employee of the university at the time and was living in residence. was released on March 15, 2023.

Death Before he could stand trial, Hankey died on February 5, 2022, at the age of 77. Initial media reports did not disclose the cause of death, although one report said that he had suffered a heart attack.