{"id":220463,"date":"2025-06-28T05:02:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T05:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/220463\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T05:02:06","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T05:02:06","slug":"archbishop-of-wales-retires-with-immediate-effect-amid-blurred-sexual-boundaries-reports-into-cathedral-failings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/220463\/","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop of Wales retires with immediate effect amid ‘blurred sexual boundaries’ reports into ‘cathedral failings’"},"content":{"rendered":"

By OLIVIA CHRISTIE<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 23:44 BST, 27 June 2025 | Updated: 23:44 BST, 27 June 2025 <\/p>\n

The Archbishop of Wales has announced his sudden retirement following a critical report into the culture at one of his cathedrals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement issued this evening, the Most Reverend Andrew John said he would also be stepping down from his role as Bishop of Bangor on August 31.<\/p>\n

It follows a safeguarding review at Bangor Cathedral which found complaints about ‘a culture in which sexual boundaries seemed blurred’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were also claims of excessive drinking and\u00a0‘inappropriate language’ being used in front of younger members of the choir.<\/p>\n

The full reports are yet to be published but summaries have been posted on the Church of Wales’s website.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is no suggestion that the archbishop has behaved inappropriately.<\/p>\n

Announcing his retirement on Friday, Mr John said:\u00a0‘It has been an enormous joy to serve in the Church in Wales for over 35 years.<\/p>\n

‘I would very much like to thank the clergy and congregations of this wonderful diocese before I retire.’<\/p>\n

\"Andrew <\/p>\n

Andrew John poses with the Cross of Wales ahead of the blessing of the cross at Holy Trinity Church, Llandudno on April 19, 2023<\/p>\n

\"Mr <\/p>\n

Mr John’s retirement\u00a0follows a safeguarding review at Bangor Cathedral (pictured) which found complaints about ‘a culture in which sexual boundaries seemed blurred’<\/p>\n

While no mention of the report was made in his retirement announcement, Mr John has previously faced calls to resign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John Pockett, a member of the Church in Wales for almost 70 years, said according to the BBC<\/a>: ‘The leader of the Church in Wales is at the centre of all this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘He is the Archbishop, he is the leader and it has happened at his Cathedral.<\/p>\n

‘It sullies the name of the Church in Wales across the country. [Archbishop of Wales] Andy John needs to come out and state plainly what has happened.’<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ruth Jones, Labour MP for Newport West and Islwyn, said:\u00a0‘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.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two priests from within Bangor Cathedral have also called an independent inquiry following the report into the church’s culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr John previously offered his ‘most heartfelt apology to any members of the cathedral community who have been hurt or who feel I have let them down’.<\/p>\n

Mr John assumed the role of Bishop of Bangor in 2008. He was elected Archbishop of Wales in December 2021 and\u00a0was the 14th person to hold the title.<\/p>\n

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\n Archbishop of Wales retires with immediate effect amid ‘blurred sexual boundaries’ reports into ‘cathedral failings’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By OLIVIA CHRISTIE Published: 23:44 BST, 27 June 2025 | Updated: 23:44 BST, 27 June 2025 The Archbishop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[192,748,92,4884,12,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-220463","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114759240541603463","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}