Archbishop of Wales retires after Bangor cathedral scandal

The Archbishop of Wales has announced his retirement after safeguarding concerns and misbehaviour were reported at his Bangor diocese.

Andrew John confirmed on Friday evening he would be stepping down from the role with immediate effect and will retire as Bishop of Bangor on 31 August.

The announcement comes after the summaries of two reports into failures at Bangor Cathedral were published last month.

The reports raised concerns over “a culture in which sexual boundaries seemed blurred” and excessive alcohol consumption, alongside governance and safeguarding issues.

The Archbishop has not been found to have behaved inappropriately.

In a statement released on Friday, John said it “has been an enormous joy to serve in the Church in Wales for over 35 years”, thanking the “clergy and congregations of this wonderful diocese“.

Earlier this week, John issued an “unreserved and unequivocal” personal apology regarding the concerns raised over the cathedral in north Wales, saying he took full responsibility for failings under his leadership.

“I repent and offer no excuses nor justifications,” he said.

Six “serious incident reports” were sent to the Charity Commission in the past 18 months, four relating to safeguarding and two relating to financial matters.

Four related to safeguarding at Bangor Cathedral in Gwynedd while two concerned financial matters.

Confirming that an inquiry was underway, a Charity Commission spokesperson said it has “opened a regulatory compliance case to assess a number of concerns that have been raised related to Bangor cathedral and diocese, including matters reported directly to us by the charities.

“We are actively examining these matters with the charities’ trustees to determine our next steps.”

The spokesperson added: “While our policy is not to confirm the detailed contents of serious incident reports or complaints from others, the issues being explored by the Commission relate to safeguarding concerns, sufficiency of financial controls, and management of conflicts of interest at the charity/ies.

“We have made no findings at this stage.”

John became Bishop of Bangor in 2008 and was elected Archbishop of Wales in December 2021.

A spokesperson for the Church in Wales confirmed that there had been a meeting of the Church’s Representative Body earlier this week and that a statement would be issued “in due course”.

Responding to the announcement of the Charity Commission inquiry, Archdeacon of Bangor David Parry said: “It is less than eight weeks since we received and published the independent reports into Bangor Cathedral.

“In that time however most of the recommendations have already been implemented, thanks to frequent meetings of a local task group and the Cathedral Chapter.

“Safeguarding, financial controls and managing conflicts of interest are all included in this work. An external Oversight Board will continue to monitor progress for at least 12 months after a new Dean is appointed.”

Dr Hywel Parry-Smith, chair of the Bangor Diocesan Trust, said: “We have robust policies and processes in place for the separate work of our charity.”