THE Archbishop of York opted to just accept a latest witness statement from a male complainant, referred to as Survivor N, in a Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) case against the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, in a preliminary judgment, dated 22 December. But Archbishop Cottrell said that he wouldn’t consider statements from 4 other individuals.
Survivor N’s criticism pertains to Bishop Mullally’s handling of allegations that he made against a priest within the diocese. In early December, it emerged that the criticism, which was filed in 2020, had not been taken further owing to the diocesan registrar’s mistakenly pondering that Survivor N didn’t want to proceed (News, 12 December).
Archbishop Cottrell is now considering whether to progress the criticism, after requesting, and receiving, a proper response from Bishop Mullally, who’s Archbishop of Canterbury-elect.
He was also asked by Survivor N to think about an updated witness statement and witness statements written by 4 other individuals. In a judgment, which has been seen by the Church Times, Archbishop Cottrell opted to just accept the updated statement from Survivor N, citing a mechanism within the CDM rules which allows him to hunt “points of clarification” after a criticism has been received.
But the statements from the 4 other individuals didn’t relate to specifics of the criticism, Archbishop Cottrell wrote, and, as such, weren’t admissible as “points of clarification”.
Bishop Mullally had until 29 December to make any further clarifications in light of the brand new statement.
The judgment quotes from Survivor N’s updated statement: “I actually have more to say and shall be saying it in an additional Statement of Witness sooner or later.”
In his judgment, nevertheless, Archbishop Cottrell wrote that he “must clarify” to Survivor N that “no further evidence may now be submitted” before he made a call, which he’s obliged to do by 7 January.
If Archbishop Cottrell chooses to not take further motion or dismisses the case, the complainant can request that this decision be reviewed by the independent President of Tribunals.
A request by Survivor N for the case to be delegated immediately to the President of Tribunals couldn’t be acceded to, Archbishop Cottrell explained, under the legal structure of the CDM.
Of the witness statements from third parties which have been excluded from consideration, Survivor N writes that they “vitally and in the general public interest expose the culture within the Diocese of London under Sarah Mullally of her enthusiastic victimisation of complainants as a tool of fame management”.
