The archbishop ofWaleshas stepped down after a culture of excessive drinking, sexual promiscuity, bullying, bad language and inappropriate banter at Bangor cathedral was revealed.
Andy John, who is also the bishop of Bangor, released a statement on Friday evening after calls for his resignation gathered pace.
He said he was announcing his “immediate retirement today as archbishop of Wales. I also intend to retire as bishop of Bangor on 31 August”.
Neither his statement nor those from senior colleagues in the Church in Wales made any reference to the scandal that has engulfed Bangor cathedral over recent years.
Earlier this week, John issued an “unreserved and unequivocal” personal apology regarding “the situation”, saying he took full responsibility for failings under his leadership. “I repent and offer no excuses nor justifications,” he said.
Calls for John to resign and for an independent inquiry into the cathedral’s culture, the behaviour of clergy, staff and volunteers, and alleged financial mismanagement had been mounting.
They came after a review by ThirtyOne: Eight, a Christian safeguarding agency,heard accountsof excessive alcohol consumption, inappropriate language and humiliating banter and a “culture in which sexual boundaries seemed blurred, and to some … promiscuity was acceptable”. Homophobic comments and an “unhappy working environment” were also reported.
A separatereport from a cathedral “visitation” teamrecommended the appointment of “strong leadership” to “steady the ship”, improved scrutiny of governance and finances, and discouraging unkind and inappropriate private communications.
According to Tim Wyatt, who writesThe Critical Friend, a newsletter on the Anglican church, and who has closely followed events at Bangor, the reports “pretty much confirmed there was a lot of drinking, sleeping around, backbiting, bullying – basically a whole culture that was completely out of kilter with what a place of Christian worship is supposed to be about”.
In addition, six “serious incident reports” have been sent to the Charity Commission in the past 18 months, four relating to safeguarding and two relating to financial matters.
Financial irregularities reportedly includemore than £400,000 being spent on new furnishings for the cathedral with inadequate consultation, and £20,000 spent on trips to Rome and Dublin for senior staff.
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: “We have 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.
“As regulator, if we find evidence of wrongdoing, we take robust action using the powers available to us.”
Many of the concerns about the cathedral centre on a period when Siôn Rhys Evans was its acting dean – in effect chief executive – while continuing in post as secretary of the Bangor diocese. Both posts are senior full-time jobs, and it is unprecedented for one person to manage both sets of responsibilities and workload.
In another highly unusual move, Rhys Evans – who was seen as a protege of John – was made acting dean only a few years after being ordained as a priest. To be elevated so quickly to a high-profile job was an “astounding over-promotion”, according to Wyatt.
In February 2024, Rhys Evans stood back from both roles without explanation. He was absent from work for 10 months, after which he quietly left to take up a new post as dean of a Westminster theological college in Cambridge.
On Friday, Westminster college confirmed that Rhys Evans’ probationary period was “unsuccessful” and he had left his job in mid-May. The Guardian has been unable to contact Rhys Evans.
Last month, two members of the cathedral’s college of priests, Rev Dr John Prysor-Jones and the Very Rev Prof Gordon McPhate, called for an independent inquiry into events in Bangor. “The reputational damage to the cathedral, the diocese, and the Church in Wales is considerable,” they said in aletter to the Church Times.
John Pockett, a member of the Church in Wales for almost 70 years, called for John to consider his position as its head. “He is the archbishop, he is the leader and it has happened at his cathedral,”he told the BBC.
Ruth Jones, the Labour MP for Newport West and Islwyn, said the church must give a full explanation to members and the public. “We want openness and transparency in all our church settings and it’s really, really important that the archbishop makes clear what has gone on,” she toldBBC Radio Wales Breakfast.