“New Archbishop Faces 1 Major Complaint in Abuse Case Scandal”
Dame Sarah Mullally faces a formal safeguarding complaint over her handling of an abuse case as the Church of England confronts fresh accountability concerns.
The Church of England is considering a complaint against the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury regarding the handling of an abuse allegation.
Dame Sarah Mullally is accused of mishandling a complaint against a priest in London, where she currently serves as bishop.
Church officials said the complaint was initially made to Lambeth Palace – the Archbishop of Canterbury's home – in 2020, but was not followed up due to "administrative errors and a miscalculation of the individual's wishes." They said Dame Sarah was not informed of the complaint when it was made.
She is due to take office on January 28 and said the victim was "let down."
She said in a statement, "Although her allegations of abuse against a member of the clergy were dealt with thoroughly by the Diocese of London, it is clear that a second complaint she made later in 2020, against me personally, was not handled properly."
"I want assurances that procedures have been strengthened to ensure that any complaints coming to Lambeth Palace are responded to in a timely and satisfactory manner."
Earlier this week, the complainant spoke to the Premier Christian website and said the way the case was handled had a serious impact on her mental health.
The Premier said she had seen evidence that when the complainant filed her original case against the accused priest, Bishop Sarah contacted the priest concerned about the allegations, which was a violation of Church disciplinary protocol.
The complaint against him was not formally processed, and Lambeth Palace officials now say they assumed the complainant no longer wished to proceed, but it is understood they did not confirm this with her.
A Lambeth Palace spokesperson said church officials had written to the complainant – known as N – to advise her on next steps. "The Bishop of London was unaware of this matter, as the process never reached a stage where he would have been informed of the complaint or its contents.
"The Provincial Registrar has apologized to those involved and immediate arrangements are now being made to consider the complaint in accordance with the relevant legal process."
Dame Sarah, formerly the NHS Chief Nurse, became a priest in 2006 and in 2018 was appointed the first female Bishop of London – the third most senior member of the clergy in the Church of England.
In October, she was named as the next Archbishop of Canterbury – the first woman to hold this role – after Justin Welby resigned amid a safeguarding scandal.
She stepped down following a scathing report into a major pedophile linked to the church. It found that she "should have reported" the abuse of boys and young men by John Smith to the police in 2013.
Her role The last day was in January, and as a result, the church has been without a position in the top position for nearly a year. Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, has been handling most of Mr. Welby's responsibilities as an interim measure.
Mr. Cottrell was one of the voting members of the body tasked with choosing his successor. But he himself has faced calls to step down over his handling of an abuse case.
Thank you for reading this content.
What's Your Reaction?
Like
1
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
