Arya News - The Church of England is facing a complaint about incoming Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally for the way she handled an abuse allegation as the bishop of London.
Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Church of England is facing a complaint about incoming Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally for the way she handled an abuse allegation as the bishop of London.
Mullally, set to become the archbishop of Canterbury next month, was accused of mishandling an allegation against a London priest. She was named archbishop of Canterbury in October after Justin Welby stepped down in the wake of another abuse scandal.
The allegation is that the priest began abusing the victim, known as N, in 2014, and that it was reported to the Diocese of London in 2019. Mullally became bishop of London in 2018.
N said that Mullally sent an email to the priest about the allegations, which is a breach of church disciplinary code. N filed a complaint against Mullally in 2020, but it wasn"t properly handled because of "administrative errors and an incorrect assumption about the individual"s wishes."
Officials said they assumed N didn"t want to proceed with the case but did not confirm it with him.
"The Bishop of London was unaware of the matter, as the process never reached the stage at which she would have been informed of the complaint or its contents," the diocese said. "The provincial registrar has apologized to those involved, and urgent arrangements are now being made for the complaint to be considered according to the relevant statutory process."
Mullally responded to the complaint.
"While his abuse allegations against a member of clergy were fully dealt with by the Diocese of London, it is clear that a different complaint he subsequently made against me personally in 2020 was not properly dealt with," The Guardian reported she said.
"I am seeking assurance that processes have been strengthened to ensure any complaint that comes into Lambeth Palace [the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury] is responded to in a timely and satisfactory manner. ... As archbishop of Canterbury, I will do everything in my power to bring about much needed and overdue reform. We must have trust in our systems, or else we cannot expect others to put their trust in us."
The complaint will be sent to Stephen Cottrell, archbishop of York, who will decide next steps. Cottrell can refer the case to a conciliator, impose sanctions or escalate it to a church tribunal.