The Archbishop of Wales has resigned with immediate effect after a safeguarding review revealed “blurred sexual boundaries” at a cathedral in his diocese.
Andrew John, 61, announced he was stepping down with immediate effect in a statement on Friday evening.
He has been the Archbishop of Wales and the Bishop of Bangor since 2021 and 2008 respectively.
It follows a safeguarding review at Bangor Cathedral in North Wales that reported a “culture in which sexual boundaries seemed blurred” and where “promiscuity was acceptable”.
There were also references to alcohol consumption, hurtful gossip, and weak financial controls.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr John, who commissioned two reports into concerns at the cathedral in October last year.
When they were shared on the Church in Wales’s website at the time, they warned of “inappropriate language, rude jokes and innuendoes” among the choir, with members feeling “unsafe and marginalised” as a result.
Some younger members reported feeling “humiliated”, it added.
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Announcing his retirement, Mr John’s statement said: “It has been an enormous joy to serve in the Church in Wales for over 35 years.
“I would very much like to thank the clergy and congregations of this wonderful diocese before I retire.”
When the findings were published earlier this year, Mr John described it as a “sobering time” and said they were “hard to hear”.
“I have begun reflecting on what I must learn from this process – not only as a leader, but as a fellow pilgrim,” he added.
“While this has been a sobering time, it also offers us opportunity for change. It will mean hard work, but it can also bring healing, and we do not do this alone.”
Second resignation of archbishop in a year
It comes after the former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigned from his post in November.
His decision followed the independent Makin review into barrister John Smyth’s abuse of children and young men revealed the Church of England had covered some of it up.
Across five decades in three different countries, up to 130 boys are believed to have been subjected to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual attacks.
The report concluded he might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported it to police soon after he was installed as archbishop 11 years ago. Smyth died aged 75 in Cape Town in 2018 while still under police investigation.
Mr Welby is yet to be replaced and a new appointment for the post of Bishop of Wales will also be made in due course.
