A DISCIPLINARY process against the Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury-elect, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, has been dropped, after the Archbishop of York determined to take no further action. It is open to the complainant to appeal to the President of Tribunals, Sir Stephen Males.
The complaint relates to the alleged mishandling of a safeguarding complaint against a priest in the diocese of London. The translation to Canterbury of Bishop Mullally, who has held her present appointment since 2018, is due to take effect on 28 January with a ceremony in St Paul’s for the legal confirmation of her election.
Shortly before Christmas, Archbishop Cottrell accepted an updated witness statement from the complainant, Survivor N, in the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) process (News, 31 December).
Archbishop Cottrell, however, rejected the complainant’s request to include further witness statements from other individuals, on the basis that they did not relate to specifics of the complaint. He also explained that the legal structure of the CDM meant that he could not accede to Survivor N’s request for the case to be delegated immediately to the President of Tribunals.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Archbishop of York said that the determination had been made the day before, and that the Archbishop had decided “not to take any further action”. “The complainant can under Section 13(3) of the Measure request this decision is independently reviewed by the President of Tribunals.”
On the same day, Premier Christian News reported that a CDM case had been reopened against the priest against whom the original complaint was made.
An statement from Bishop Mullally last month said that the allegations had been “fully dealt with” when they were made in 2020 (News, 11 December).
