We reported in March that the Archbishop of Wales had ordered a visitation of Bangor Cathedral. This has now been completed and reports issued. There is a press release from the Church in Wales, which is copied below, with links to the reports at the end. There is also this news item by Madeleine Davies in the Church Times: Visitation identifies ‘weak financial controls’ and ‘inappropriate behaviours’ at Bangor Cathedral.
Bangor Cathedral Visitation Report
Provincial news Posted: 3 May 2025
In October 2024, in response to concerns which had been brought to his attention, the Archbishop of Wales, The Most Revd Andrew John, commissioned a visitation of Bangor Cathedral and a review by Thirtyone:eight, an external body that specialises in safeguarding advice in church settings.
The reporting process is now complete and the following summary reports have now been released publicly, and can be accessed below.
We are grateful to all who contributed to this careful and prayerful process. The reports give details of the next steps which will now be taken.
A statement from the Archbishop of Wales, The Most Reverend Andrew John
In the autumn of last year, I commissioned two exercises in connection with Bangor Cathedral. The first of these was a visitation and the second a safeguarding audit by the independent organisation thirtyone:eight. I asked that those who conducted these exercises on my behalf undertake a thorough review of the quality of life, faith, discipline, behaviour and culture of the Cathedral.
Those who undertook these exercises did so on the condition that any sensitive and personal information which might be disclosed by participants (including safeguarding disclosures) would not be released into the public domain. This was to give confidence to anyone who participated. I am upholding their request for confidentiality and therefore releasing today summary reports prepared by the reviewers and their unabridged recommendations.
It is evident that in recent years great progress has been made at our cathedral. We have seen the fruit of hard work: improved attendance, increased bilingual worship, a raised public profile and an enhanced musical life. These are signs of vitality and growth that we rightly celebrate. But we also know that growth is not just about what is visible–it’s about what is true, just, and safe at the heart of our shared life.
The reviewers identified some concerns which needed to be addressed. Taken together, the reports described areas where we needed to do better to ensure that the cathedral is truly safe, inclusive, well-governed and thriving.
As reported to the reviewers, these concerns were:
I acknowledge that these findings are hard to hear–but they must be faced if we are to move forward with integrity.
Before I outline my response, let me firstly pay tribute to those who participated in the two processes. I have listened carefully to those who came forward and I want to honour their honesty and courage. I also thank those who carried out the visitation and the audit for their conscientious and sensitive work.
The response will be primarily in the hands of two groups. The first is an Implementation Group, chaired by Archdeacon David Parry, which will be responsible for implementing, in full, the recommendations from both reports. I have asked that this work be completed by 4th August, three months from today.
The second group is an Oversight Board chaired by Prof Medwin Hughes. Their role will be to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Implementation Group and to support a new Dean. The recruitment of a new Dean will commence tomorrow. Copies of the terms of reference of the two groups will be made available.
In parallel, I have begun reflecting on what I must learn from this process–not only as a leader, but as a fellow pilgrim. The call to lifelong formation is one we all share, and I remain committed to walking that path with humility. We shall commit ourselves to the work of repair, of rebuilding trust and of creating a healthier culture–together.
While this has been a sobering time, it also offers us opportunity for change. It will mean hard work, but it can also bring healing, and we do not do this alone. As Christians, we know that we are people who need repentance and hope. We know our human flaws–but we also know the grace of a God who shares our humanity, understands our weaknesses and strengthens us to become the Church, he calls us to be.
There is an eviscerating piece by Martin Shipton about this appalling catalogue of failings/mismanagement in so many areas in Bangor on the online newspaper http://www.Nation.Cymru – very well worth reading and passing on to others. The buck surely stops at the top, Andy John Bishop of Bangor and Archbishop of Wales, and he has to go. So many questions remain unanswered and no one being held accountable.
Is this the article to which you refer?
Serious safeguarding concerns including sexual misbehaviour at Bangor Cathedral
Martin Shipton has written quite a number of articles criticising the Archbishop, the Cathedral and its former Sub-Dean, eg: https://nation.cymru/news/questions-raised-over-archbishops-judgement-in-case-of-double-job-cleric/
It is, indeed. He has previously written several other pieces about the Bangor debacle on Nation.Cymru as noted by Baptist Trainfan.
I’m appalled but utterly unsurprised by the horribly transparent way the Archbishop seems to have used initiating a visitation to attempt to recuse himself from facing any allegations of responsibility for the progressively worsening mess that has been the governance of Bangor Cathedral over quite a long period. One Dean moves on amid financial settlements, allegations and counter allegations of unprofessional behaviour, to say the least, and staff resignations. A second moves on after a tenure that even the kindest of commentators would describe as not exactly stellar, again with allegations flying, and financially costly with housing reimagined for the… Read more »
It’s interesting to notice that the former Sub-Dean is now the Bursar of Westminster College in Cambridge – not part of the University but the Learning and Resource Centre for the United Reformed Church, part of the Cambridge Theological Federation.
I noticed this. Sadly there has not been any comment from the URC as to how they followed recruitment processes. In particular, what recent references were taken up?
It is indeed. Two out of the three have moved on to better things. The reference situation when that kind of thing happens always interests me.
Reading this, it seems that the principal weakness of the Church in Wales, with its tendency to circle the wagons to defend the indefensible, its normalizing of dysfunction, along with ‘silence in the ranks’, is that it doesn’t have anyone of the calibre of Helen-Ann Hartley.
Thank you Simon. You’re absolutely right, Helen-Ann is an absolute treasure – O that we had a Welsh Helen-Ann! I believe it is true, however, that in the Church in Wales, unlike in the Church of England, there is no mechanism at all for getting rid of a bishop. I know nothing of CinW Canon Law, but I believe the Constitution of the CinW (written around a century ago) makes no provision for this to happen. In the CofE, as we saw four years ago, a threat of a motion of no confidence in Winchester saw the eventual retirement of… Read more »
I agree about the speaker of truth to power Helen-Ann, while doubting she will want to take on criticism for ‘meddling’ in the Church in Wales, though she has the opportunity of speaking on behalf of faith communities as a prelate in the House of Lords. Perhaps Kathy Newman may find the matter of interest on behalf of Channel 4; I know nothing of S4C or Welsh media generally.
I am indebted to the former Archbishop of Cardiff, who recommended I read Evelyn Waugh’s Helena as we marked seventeen centuries since the Council of Nicea. This Epiphany reflection by Helena on the Magi speaks mountains, applicable to the uneasy alliance between power and humble service, be it in the Vatican Conclave, or the Church of England or Church in Wales: “Like me,” she said to them, “you were late in coming. The shepherds were here long before; even the cattle. They had joined the chorus of angels before you were on your way. For you the primordial discipline of… Read more »
Waugh’s Helena has been my inspiration for 40 years! a book I read at least once each year. An inspiration to anyone who has academic pretensions!
It’s astonishing how beautifully that really rather unpleasant man could write!
The Constitution of the Church in Wales does provide for a Supreme Court (Vol 1, chapter xi), the functions of which include hearing and determining any charge against the Archbishop. The judges of the Supreme Court are the Archbishops of Canterbury, York, Armagh, and Dublin, and the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, i.e. the five other Anglican Metropolitans in the British Isles. Any of the Metropolitans may nominate a diocesan bishop to sit in his or her place, but one of the Archbishops or the Primus must be present and serve as President of the Supreme Court. The quorum… Read more »
Diolch William. Thank you.
The most frequently used mechanism for getting rid of a bishop in the CofE is to get them plastered all over the national press for something bad related to safeguarding: e.g. Canterbury, Liverpool. Is there another way of doing it?
Is the Diocesan Bishop the line manager for their Cathedral ? Does the Dean report to the Bishop or does the Dean have a degree of autonomy ? I realise that the Archbishop of Wales has manifold duties but surely he should know what is going on in his own Cathedral without the need for a formal Visitation ? Did clergy in the Cathedral complain ? Did the Archbishop listen and act ? I do not know if the Archbishop should resign but the usual “lessons learned” is not good enough. I find it disturbing that the Archbisop talks of… Read more »
One conclusion from a whole raft of these investigations and reports is that after a great lapse of time, when a lot of people have been involved in a situation with no acceptable management oversight and a general culture of hushing things up, it is likely to be impossible to discern “the truth” and apportion blame. Phraseology such as “hurtful gossip” “inappropriate language” and “excessive alcohol consumption” could reflect truly horrendous and unacceptable behaviour or the sort of thing almost everybody has experienced in a whole range of basically-OK institutions. There are definitely some people who are too quick to… Read more »
It gets worse: https://nation.cymru/news/archbishop-faces-backlash-after-publication-of-critical-reports/
Just for clarity, Paul Davies is Bishop of Dorking in Guildford Diocese, not ‘a bishop in London.’
Indeed it does, and as we say where I come from…I’d be surprised if that was even the half of it in terms of everything that’s been going on in that Cathedral and Diocese. The thing that really saddened me in the article, and that has also long been in my thoughts, is how no account at all has been taken at any point of the distress of the people in the pews. I’m sure many of them, however much they might have been relieved to see the back of some individuals, didn’t want all this idiocy, incompetence and harm… Read more »
I have of late, (but wherefore I know not) been reading a lot of employment tribunal judgements relating to what would in the past have been the public sector but now has a faux-commerical gloss. NHS foundation trusts. Universities. That sort of thing. A common thread is that bullying, incompetent managers get away with it for a while. They get away with it because loyal, hardworking people who put the interests of the organisation above their own are prepared to resign or retire quietly rather than go public. Those staff, upon whom the organisation is built, sacrifice their own interests… Read more »
This further piece by Martin Shipton on nation.cymru is truly devastating and surely Andy John cannot continue?
https://nation.cymru/news/archbishop-faces-backlash-after-publication-of-critical-reports/
You must never become the story, as Andy John has in all of this. Media are following it too.
Sadly, John, as many of us on here have noted on far too many occasions ‘cannot’ and ‘should not’ turn out to be two very different things when it comes to Bishops. Most with this kind of track record across pretty much every other profession would either be fired by management, shareholders or the Board (as appropriate) or have the integrity to resign (I hedge because there are always exceptions who seem to cling on regardless – think Paula Vennells). But integrity seems to mean very little to Bishops when faced with the threat of losing their precious status…which in… Read more »
The archbishops of Wales and York seem remarkably thick skinned. The latest issue of Private Eye details how York has been snubbed by His Majesty; it also hints that the future king is not well disposed to the church. Far from shoring up the edifice the latest crop of archbishops seem to be scuttling it.
Well it must be true if it is Private Eye.
Indeed. Anyone reading the handwringing equivocation of the CofE bishops about safeguarding and sexuality to mention but two topics, would welcome Private Eye’s expose of the church’s hypocrisy.
I enjoy Private Eye but the lines there between satire, responsible investigative journalism and actual prejudice are very blurred.
Indeed: https://www.private-eye.co.uk/news It makes a painful read. It’s possible that Welby did not receive the Royal Victorian Chain (which confers no precedence) because he had already been given the GCVO for crowning the sovereign, though it should be noted that Davidson, Lang and Fisher received both. I strongly suspect that the acute embarrassment surrounding his association with Peter Ball has made the king wary of bishops in general. It seems pretty obvious that the prince of Wales has no interest in the Church, and probably little or no interest in Christianity. Of course, Leo XIV is not without his own… Read more »
Worth watching again the King’s Christmas message where he was very open and clear about his Christian faith.
David why would His Majesty’s faith stop him from being disillusioned with the current crop of bishops?
It doesn’t of course. I was responding to the claim he had no faith at all.
I think the claim was about the Prince of Wales, not about the king.
So sorry – my mis-reading.
I believe BBC Wales news are likely to be covering the Bangor debacle in tonight’s news programmes in both Welsh and English. I’ve recorded interviews on camera for them in which I called for Andy John’s resignation, not that he would ever listen!
Do you all know that +Andy John is also the lead bishop for safeguarding.
Surely after all this going on under his nose that must change. From going in to the cathedral I remember reading notices calling for all safeguarding concerns to go through the clergy rather than straight to safeguarding itself. This notice used to also appear on the orders of service for diocesan and provincial services which would have been signed off by the archbishop’s office.
BBC Wales religious news this evening was showing more interest in soft interviews with Welsh RC’s excited about the newly appointed pope, which seems to have displaced this story for the time being.
Yes, the Bangor debacle story was upstaged by the new Pope item – two religious stories would have swamped the programme! But it did command seven minutes as the lead story on the S4C Newyddion main evening news bulletin. I’ve provided a link on another comment on here to the BBC Wales Online item, where it’s also the lead, and which is a good summary of the broadcast item. I hope this helps.
This is the BBC Wales story which led (for seven minutes) on the main S4C newyddion programme tonight. It’s also there lead on Wales Online.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7zrk50471o
The Welsh-language news, this evening, gave extensive coverage to this (including a good interview with John Pockett). Andy John came across as evasive (no surprises there, in my view) with an apology issued at the 11th hour when he knew the media was on to it (he’s never apologised for anything before in his life as far as I can tell). The journalist covering it drew attention to the fact that the Review was issued on a Saturday evening over a bank holiday weekend, which is another symptom of the Andy John evasion strategy. English-language contributors to the piece, including… Read more »
And that is … ?
What astonishes me about the Bangor Cathedral visitation report is that it doesn’t actually tell us what the visitation team discovered. It moves seamlessly from general realities about cathedrals to recommendations. No facts whatsoever are laid bare. (Welcome to the customary transparency of the C in W). Perhaps someone will correct me if I have missed anything of significance in this regard. It is the perfect white-wash, should anyone be in need of such. It should be noted that under Bishop Andy Jones, no fewer than three ’deans’ have come and gone. “ To lose one…[Your Grace], maybe regarded as… Read more »
The pews/other furniture cost £418,000, the sub dean wasn’t required to seek approval as he could report to himself as diocesan secretary. Only one person had the authority to question….hmm I wonder who that could be?
I am interested to learn of the cost you cite, as I had been under the impression or delusion that it was in the region of £235k. I frequently attend services across Wales as part of my lunatic worship tour of the British isles. One of the most depressing parts of my pilgrimage has been along the borders of Bangor and St Asaph dioceses. For example, every church (saving only the ‘modern’ foundation of Christ Church, Bala) around the shores of Bala lake has been closed in recent times: Llannuwchllyn (now a sort of community centre), Llangower (sold for residential… Read more »
£235,000 for pews. But that does not include altar, lectern, choir stalls, priests seats etc…
Thank you for that. I can only assume that the anxiety for making the nave a space for ‘flexible use’ was intended to permit the generation of additional income that would defray the cost of the new furnishings over time, and secure the cathedral’s finances in the future. In my view this is yet another instance of the prioritisation of cathedrals over parish churches, which I consider repugnant. If the cathedral is the head of the diocesan body, it is problematic if it rests upon a withered and dying trunk starved of financial nutrients. It was a great pity that… Read more »
Tbf, I am aware that all the money comes out the cathedral coffers. No diocesan money spent but that now leaves the cathedral in a dangerous financial position which it never agreed too.
So no second signature on cheques or paper trail of spending authorised by trustees?
If financial skulduggery in a charity is known about by trustees but not reported or acted upon they are complicit, surely? Is no-one challenging the leadership in detail and in public?
There was a third ‘new’ church in Bangor, that of St James, which was given or sold to the Roman Catholic community in 1996. One might also include St Peter’s church, consecrated in 1957 to replace a mission church, and Eglwys y Groes, consecrated in 1958. In 1958 the churches in the city of Bangor, including the cathedral, had 1,252 Easter Communicants, with 335 in St Mary’s and 458 in St David’s and St Peter’s. Now the cathedral is the only place of Anglican worship. The many comments in this discussion, especially those of Lister Tonge and Cambrian, call out… Read more »
Not quite, Eglwys y Groes is an active Anglican church ,St Peter’s was for a period a welsh only church but is not formally closed and that Bangor now has some 14 places of Christian worship. the demographic of Bangor today is vastly different to that of 1958 with substantial swathes of the City now student accommodation and a diverse mix as a result of the University’s popularity with international students, the Cathedral attracts a great number of catholic students from overseas regulary attending for Communion who choose the Cathedral over St James.
The discrepancy between the various figures in circulation is precisely why clear, documentary evidence needs to be put in the public domain. I would imagine that Archdeacon Mike Komor and his colleague have reported on this after the Visitation. Unfortunately, the Archbishop chooses (one might imagine, on the advice of ‘Sir Humphrey’ and the lawyers) to continue to withhold this from public scrutiny, thus avoiding accountability. Church in Wales reviews following monumental failures in leadership could be written before they are commissioned. Their job is to report, “nothing to see here”. The published versions of the reviews are then crafted… Read more »
Your contributions of this kind are always fascinating and so helpful. In this case, your conclusion is also utterly devastating. Thank you so much.
Llanuwllyn and Llangywer were the parishes of the wonderful and underrated (perhaps because he wrote in Welsh) poet Euros Bowen whose work would I think be more read and celebrated in a different era. As with the church closures I sometimes think we abandon the more deep, beautiful and resonant parts of our Anglican heritage too lightly.
Though I should add that the museum at Llanycil does have a Christian purpose (with respect to Mary Jones).
This all makes for depressing reading, but I’m aware that Bangor isn’t the only Welsh cathedral to have had its woes in recent years. Llandaff has also had its challenges. For a third of Welsh cathedrals to have had issues must raise a question about the culture of the Church in Wales. Is part of the problem that it is now just so small that everyone knows everyone else? If that is the case, who will put their head above the parapet to ask the awkward questions?
It ought to be a matter of some concern that the irregularities at Bangor have been divided into two separate investigations. The Church in Wales was criticised for this sort of division in the Monmouth Review into the circumstances surrounding the departure of the former Bishop of that diocese. In that case, absolutely no one was held responsible for the shambles that ensued. The unfolding Bangor fiasco looks remarkably like the same flawed methodology. (Though in this case a third investigation, namely into possible financial irregularities seems to have been simply omitted.) Note, however, that the methodology of division into… Read more »
Here are the fireworks – yet more disastrous detail from the tragedy of the Bangor Cathedral debacle. At the heart of this is Andrew John who both ordained the person involved in most of this and also appointed him to be Sub Dean (de facto Dean) in the absence of a permanent dean, in the face of advice to the contrary. How can he stay in post? The buck stops with him and it was his judgement that was truly appalling. The sums mentioned are mind boggling to most Church in Wales communicants, and the mismanagement, from the top down,… Read more »
Possibly the most concerning part of all this fiasco to me lies in the BBC’s claim that the former Sub-Dean has now ‘left the priesthood.’ That might seem surprising for me to say, given the scale of mismanagement there has been and the failures in oversight. But I say it because I think there is always a defence (albeit very feeble in most circumstances) in the claim ‘well I’m a priest, not an x or y’ when dealing with the failings of clergy. After all, it isn’t the primary vocation of most clergy to be a manager, HR, finance or… Read more »
Having met the sub-Dean a number of times before the “Gardening leave” period, he exuded a very high self-confidence (self importance) verging to perhaps arrogance, coupled with a very flamboyant approach to vestments, it may be that the Archbishop was quite simply dazzled by such and failed to heed : “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matthew 7:15, NRSV
Further revelations? https://nation.cymru/news/church-in-wales-confirms-financial-irregularities-relating-to-archbishops-protege/
So far, no mention of the trip to London by the diocesan hierarchy to celebrate Siôn’s diaconal ordination.
It needs to be included in the reckoning if only to discounted as a rumour. A rumour breeds in the absence of transparency. Were such calculations are needed, the Church in Wales usually seems to conclude that it’s worth the risk.
Bravo to those who have forced these matters into the light!
A key point that needs full clarification on the alleged circa £52000 post ordination party for Sion Rhys Evans – apparently in London, note, not in Bangor or one of the many splendid suitable venues in the diocese – is whether the rumour that both Andy John as Bishop of Bangor and Mary Stallard as then Archdeacon of Bangor, now Bishop of Llandaf, were present. Rumour is rampant and speculation symptomatic over the whole Bangor debacle across the Church in Wales and beyond; it is deeply harming the great work done by its superb priests in parishes and communities in… Read more »
When I first heard the report of this shindig and that the diocesan ordination had been moved to accommodate it, it struck me as nothing short of contemptuous of the diocese of Bangor and the Church in Wales. The new deacon had a curacy in the diocese of Bangorand no ministerial connection with the church in Knightsbridge. Shortly after the event, report from others who were present made quite clear the highly distinguished guest list from the hierarchy of the diocese of Bangor. The people of the diocese might well wonder who those guests thought was footing the bill for… Read more »
Echo that – it is clear , right and proper now that the Archbishop should take full responsibility and do the honourable thing and step down – The Clergy, Choir and Laity of the Cathedral do not deserve to be tarred with the failings of the Archbishop.Indeed I hold the fullest respect for all those who kept the cathedral itself alive and vibrant amidst the turmoil whipping around them.