Church urged to share full reports as Archbishop retires

A senior MP is calling on the Church in Wales to fully publish two reports into allegations of safeguarding and governance issues at Bangor Cathedral.

The Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, announced he was retiring with immediate effect on Friday following a turbulent period for the Bangor diocese after the publication of the summaries of two critical reports.

The summaries mentioned "a culture in which sexual boundaries seemed blurred" and excessive alcohol consumption as well as governance and safeguarding weaknesses at Bangor Cathedral.

Ruth Jones MP said "we need to see what the reports actually say, not just the summaries".

There is no suggestion that Mr John behaved inappropriately.

On Friday, Mr John confirmed he would retire as the Archbishop of Wales with immediate effect and would also retire as Bishop of Bangor on 31 August.

His decision follows the publication last month of the summaries of two reports into failures at Bangor Cathedral.

Declining to publish the reports in full, the Church in Wales set up an implementation group and oversight board to make improvements and implement recommendations.

At the time, Mr John had offered his "most heartfelt apology to any members of the cathedral community who have been hurt or who feel I have let them down" as he faced calls from some quarters to resign.

Jones, the MP for Newport West and Islwyn and co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Safeguarding in Faith Communities, said there was "a problem" with not having "full sight" of the reports.

"Because we don't know the full extent of the situation or the problems in Bangor, and everybody wants to make sure that Bangor and the rest of Wales, the Church in Wales, goes forward," she said.

"It's things like making sure safeguarding principles are in place, procedures and protocols, and that staff and congregations feel safe.

"We need to know what's gone wrong, because unless you know what's gone wrong, how can you put it right?"

A spokesperson for the Church in Wales said the reports into the situation at Bangor Cathedral were commissioned by the church and the summaries of those reports were made public.

"We will remain in dialogue with the parties involved at Bangor as we seek to resolve the issues and to inform the wider public, while respecting our obligations to those who contributed to the reports on conditions of confidentiality," they added.

Senedd member Sian Gwenllian, whose Arfon constituency includes Bangor, has called for an independent "review" into "what went wrong" at the cathedral.

The Plaid Cymru MS said: "We now urgently require a fully independent, public review - not a closed-door process - to examine what went wrong at Bangor Cathedral."

Ms Gwenllian said transparency was "absolutely essential" as "the public deserve to know how safeguarding failures were allowed to persist" and "how finances were handled".

"Only with openness and an honest reckoning can public trust be restored," she said.

Responding to the MS, a spokesperson for the Church in Wales said: "We are in contact with Sian Gwenllian and have offered a meeting to discuss her concerns and whatever next steps would be appropriate."