THE former Archbishop of Wales, the Rt Revd Andrew John, has said that pronouncing his immediate retirement within the wake of reported failings at Bangor Cathedral had been a “painful” but “good decision for the longer term” of the Church in Wales.
The then Archbishop John made the announcement on 27 June, three days after the Representative Body (RB) of the Church in Wales met in Cardiff to debate events in Bangor, after two reports that recorded concerns about “weak financial controls” and “inappropriate behaviours” (News, 27 June).
The full motion agreed by the RB, published last week, called for a “cultural audit” of the Church in Wales, and a “change in leadership, procedures and governance within the Diocese of Bangor” (News, 4 July). The Charity Commission, which has received a complete of six serious-incident reports referring to Bangor Cathedral, has launched an inquiry.
In an interview with BBC Radio Cymru’s Bwrw Golwg on Saturday, Bishop John said: “It has been very painful, and my mental health has suffered in a way I’ve never experienced before, but that’s a consequence of getting to make big decisions.”
He had, he said, little alternative within the matter. “Being present on the meeting, and [to] have people roughly calling on your resignation was like being in a nightmare. I do know the individuals who were in that meeting.
“I don’t think I had a likelihood to elucidate the changes we’ve made, and the way complicated things are, but, having heard from them, I don’t need to be an issue for them either. I believe it’s decision for the longer term.”
Bishop John regretted, he said, that he had been unable to be more open with the press to elucidate what had happened, including the improvements which he said had been made. He didn’t know, he said, concerning the “drinking culture” recently reported by the BBC to have surrounded the Bangor Cathedral choir.
“The concept that they went out after necessary services, that they went out until late saddens me. It gives a foul impression of the diocese. It was a shock to listen to about heavy drinking within the diocese.” Reports that folks had made inappropriate jokes about children were also “unacceptable”, he said.
Bishop John acknowledged that a “lot of mistakes had been made” across the financial management of the cathedral, but he was not, he said, “unhappy” that about £20,000 had been spent on two trips to Rome and one to Dublin. “It’s not extravagant, with 20 people travelling.”
Generally, he said that he must have paid more attention to the cathedral and diocesan structures. “It pains me that these items happened under my watch, and I’ll need to live with that. Bangor is a unbelievable diocese. The damage done to the diocese, because I didn’t pay enough attention to problems, is a burden I’ll carry.”
Change would take years of collaborative working across the Church in Wales, he said. While he didn’t feel that he had been mistreated, he had been “shocked” by social media comments, which had been “very difficult to see”.
He concluded: “I’m a bishop and a pacesetter within the Church; these items have happened during my tenure, so it’s only right to offer another person the chance to take responsibility for the longer term.”
