Archbishop of Wales stands down over Bangor cathedral scandal
The archbishop of Wales has stepped down after a culture of excessive drinking, sexual promiscuity, bullying, bad language and inappropriate banter at Bangor cathedral was revealed.
Andy John, who is also the bishop of Bangor, released a statement on Friday evening after calls for his resignation gathered pace.
He said he was announcing his 'immediate retirement today as archbishop of Wales. I also intend to retire as bishop of Bangor on 31 August'.
Neither his statement nor those from senior colleagues in the Church in Wales made any reference to the scandal that has engulfed Bangor cathedral over recent years.
Earlier this week, John issued an 'unreserved and unequivocal' personal apology regarding 'the situation', saying he took full responsibility for failings under his leadership. 'I repent and offer no excuses nor justifications,' he said.
Calls for John to resign and for an independent inquiry into the cathedral's culture, the behaviour of clergy, staff and volunteers, and alleged financial mismanagement had been mounting.
They came after a review by ThirtyOne: Eight, a Christian safeguarding agency, heard accounts of excessive alcohol consumption, inappropriate language and humiliating banter and a 'culture in which sexual boundaries seemed blurred, and to some … promiscuity was acceptable'. Homophobic comments and an 'unhappy working environment' were also reported.
A separate report from a cathedral 'visitation' team recommended the appointment of 'strong leadership' to 'steady the ship', improved scrutiny of governance and finances, and discouraging unkind and inappropriate private communications.
According to Tim Wyatt, who writes The Critical Friend, a newsletter on the Anglican church, and who has closely followed events at Bangor, the reports 'pretty much confirmed there was a lot of drinking, sleeping around, backbiting, bullying – basically a whole culture that was completely out of kilter with what a place of Christian worship is supposed to be about'.
In addition, six 'serious incident reports' have been sent to the Charity Commission in the past 18 months, four relating to safeguarding and two relating to financial matters.
Financial irregularities reportedly include more than £400,000 being spent on new furnishings for the cathedral with inadequate consultation, and £20,000 spent on trips to Rome and Dublin for senior staff.
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: 'We have opened a regulatory compliance case to assess a number of concerns that have been raised related to Bangor cathedral and diocese, including matters reported directly to us by the charities. We are actively examining these matters with the charities' trustees to determine our next steps.
'As regulator, if we find evidence of wrongdoing, we take robust action using the powers available to us.'
Many of the concerns about the cathedral centre on a period when Siôn Rhys Evans was its acting dean – in effect chief executive – while continuing in post as secretary of the Bangor diocese. Both posts are senior full-time jobs, and it is unprecedented for one person to manage both sets of responsibilities and workload.
In another highly unusual move, Rhys Evans – who was seen as a protege of John – was made acting dean only a few years after being ordained as a priest. To be elevated so quickly to a high-profile job was an 'astounding over-promotion', according to Wyatt.
In February 2024, Rhys Evans stood back from both roles without explanation. He was absent from work for 10 months, after which he quietly left to take up a new post as dean of a Westminster theological college in Cambridge.
On Friday, Westminster college confirmed that Rhys Evans' probationary period was 'unsuccessful' and he had left his job in mid-May. The Guardian has been unable to contact Rhys Evans.
Last month, two members of the cathedral's college of priests, Rev Dr John Prysor-Jones and the Very Rev Prof Gordon McPhate, called for an independent inquiry into events in Bangor. 'The reputational damage to the cathedral, the diocese, and the Church in Wales is considerable,' they said in a letter to the Church Times.
John Pockett, a member of the Church in Wales for almost 70 years, called for John to consider his position as its head. 'He is the archbishop, he is the leader and it has happened at his cathedral,' he told the BBC.
Ruth Jones, the Labour MP for Newport West and Islwyn, said the church must give a full explanation to members and the public. '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,' she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
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After that my mate got out off the pool and the big fella shouted over to him wtf are you looking at so obviously my mates said to him I'm looking at you the fella as then flipped and started walking to my mate and the woman who gets his with the chair is in this video here trying to stop him my pal then goes dancing over to him not expecting the man to punch him…but anyways he hit my pal in the face and dropped him and then proceeded to kick him in the face while he was down👌🏻 the video cut off tho after that obviously like any normal mates would do we've backed him up I tried staying out the way as I don't want the trouble a chair then got lobbed towards me so I picked the chair up and threw it back and it accidentally hit the woman who as you can see went down abit easy but besides that I was very apologetic and I felt terrible, but I'd have felt even worse if we left my mate to get badly beaten up while he's trying to enjoy his holiday I hope this video opens peoples eyes I had to post it cause I've had nothing but abuse all morning and I'm sure this will clear it or so it should 👍🏻 #fyp ♬ original sound - 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗧𝘃 - 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗧𝘃 Footage initially emerged of the quarrel over the weekend without Harratt being identified 'It really is a shame for us and for our teams to have to deal with this kind of issue, especially when people are supposed to come on holiday to enjoy and have fun, and not to act in other ways.' 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After the video was shared online on Sunday it was reposted by the footballer who also shared various snaps of himself on holiday on the Spanish island. On Thursday, posting on TikTok, Harratt wrote: 'Just for the people who have seen the video circling the internet of me throwing a chair 'FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON' 'Here's the fella who started it all and let me just say he was the worst man you could ever come across and a bully! 'He was 6,6 and built like a brick! Anyway he was swimming over to young couples while they're all chilling and trying to make the lad feel uncomfortable flirting with there girls and all sorts of daft stuff like that! 'And one of my mates who is only 18 by the way jumped in the pool and started splashing him having a laugh like you do on holiday then it's stopped! 'After that my mate got out off the pool and the big fella shouted over to him wtf are you looking at so obviously my mates said to him I'm looking at you the fella has then flipped and started walking to my mate and the woman who gets hit with the chair is in this video here trying to stop him my pal then goes dancing over to him not expecting the man to punch him. 'But anyways he hit my pal in the face and dropped him. He has previously been banned from football for betting on games and fined for poaching 'The video cut off though after that obviously like any normal mates would do we've backed him up I tried staying out the way as I don't want the trouble a chair then got lobbed towards me so I picked the chair up and threw it back and it accidentally hit the woman who as you can see went down a bit easy but besides that I was very apologetic and I felt terrible. 'But I'd have felt even worse if we left my mate to get badly beaten up while he's trying to enjoy his holiday I hope this video opens peoples eyes I had to post it cause I've had nothing but abuse all morning and I'm sure this will clear it or so it should.' It's not Harratt's first brush with controversy. Last year while on loan at Fleetwood from Huddersfield he was fined £1,000 by police after he was caught poaching in North Yorkshire. Police were called just before midnight on February 6 to investigate a vehicle being driven suspiciously around Whashton, near Richmond. A short while later Harratt, from Pontefract, and Daniel Luke Dimmock, 34, from Castleford were found carrying large black lamps, and with lurcher-type dogs on slip leads, police said. The men were searched, and their lamps and vehicle seized. Whistleblowers, brought to you by the Mail and Wickes TradePro, is football's most original new podcast, lifting the lid on the parts of the game no one else talks about Podcast All episodes Play on Apple Spotify They were found guilty of entering land as a trespasser at night with poaching equipment at Harrogate Magistrates Court on December 19 and fined £1,153 each, and ordered to pay hundreds of pounds more in costs and surcharges, according to police. He was also convicted of poaching at a farm in East Yorkshire in 2022 and fined £830, plus £233 costs. Also, Harratt was banned from football for four months in the 2023-24 season while at Huddersfield after placing 484 bets on matches over a three-year period. That came with a £3,200 fine and 36 of the bets were on Huddersfield games - though he insisted he was not in the matchday squad for any of them.
