A COMPLAINT against the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, was “not taken forward or appropriately followed up”, Lambeth Palace said in a press release on Thursday.
The claim related to the diocese of London’s and Bishop Mullally’s handling of an abuse allegation, Premier Christian News reported on Monday. The complainant, known as Survivor N, said that he was subject to a “systematic campaign of harassment and retribution as a CDM [Clergy Discipline Measure] complainant”.
Premier reported that the person filed a grievance in March 2020, which was acknowledged by the Bishop at Lambeth on the time, the Rt Revd Tim Thornton. But when an update was requested greater than a 12 months later, Survivor N was told that the grievance had only just been received.
The statement from Lambeth Palace said that, “resulting from administrative errors and an incorrect assumption concerning the individual’s wishes, the grievance was not taken forward or appropriately followed up.”
During that period, Survivor N’s mental health deteriorated, a psychiatrist said in an interview with Premier. Survivor N told the Christian news website that he had twice attempted to take his own life.
Bishop Mullally, who’s now the Archbishop-elect of Canterbury (News, 3 October), said in a separate statement on Thursday that Survivor N had been “let down by the processes of the Church of England.
“While his abuse allegations against a member of clergy were fully handled by the Diocese of London, it is evident that a special grievance he subsequently made against me personally in 2020 was not properly handled.”
Bishop Mullally was, she said, “looking for assurance that processes have been strengthened to make sure any grievance that comes into Lambeth Palace is responded to in a timely and satisfactory manner”.
As Archbishop, she would, she said, “do every part in my power to bring about much needed and overdue reform. We should have trust in our systems, or else we cannot expect others to place their trust in us.”
