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| The Bishop of Bangor, Andy John, at his Enthronement as Archbishop of Wales Source: Church in Wales |
The Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, announced he was retiring 'with immediate effect' on Friday, 27 June, following a 'turbulent period for the Bangor diocese' but did not intend to retire as Bishop of Bangor until 31st August.
Back in 2022 I wrote in Disaster looms closer:
"This extraordinary behaviour (above) of the newly enthroned archbishop of Wales, Andy John, takes place in the sanctuary in front of the Holy Table where the holy sacrifice of the Mass takes place. Nothing it seems is sacred in the Church in Wales any longer...
"The first prediction of the bishop of Bangor after his enthronement as archbishop of Wales was 'Same-sex Church in Wales marriage hope within five years'. The Holy Grail of the renewed, diverse, and inclusive Church in Wales dominated by its bench of bishops."
From Beyond a joke last year:
The latest 'first' for the Church in Wales is History is made as Church appoints its youngest ever bishop. Emphasising his same sex relationship we are told that in his spare time, 'David enjoys spending time with his fiancé, Marc Penny, and his cat, Gordon'. Not a 'first'. That record goes to the bishop of Monmouth who lives with her same sex partner.
From the BBC's article Church in Wales calls for investigation of diocese: While there is no suggestion the archbishop behaved inappropriately, the church's representative body said there must be a "change in leadership, procedures and governance in the Diocese of Bangor".
The full facts are concealed by the publication only of summaries of 'two critical reports' but the resposibility for this sorry state is the archbishop's resulting from his appointments which appear to have been based on sexuality rather than sprituality to fullfil his stated dream of Same-sex Church in Wales marriage within five years'.
Andy John appointed an assistant bishop to run the diocese of Bangor while he concentrated on his duties as archbishop. He now has none while Bangor has a bishop and an assistant bishop
As senior diocesan bishop he, presumably, will be resposible for organising the election of the new archbishop.
His meddling looks set to continue along with that of his mentor, Barry Morgan.
The farce continues.
What a shame that isn't the phograph of the gormless gurning fool appearing in the media news articles.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone thought to send a copy to the BBC?
Re post not appearing on the other blog: we've had this problem before and it's simply down to page size. Folk need to go to the bottom and click on "load more" - that's all.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the identity of the 'priests' who attended the 'Seven Last Shots of Christ' on Good Friday 2023 as reported today in the Daily Mail? Are they the same priests who went to Rome June 2023 and who also attended the Royal Thames Yacht Club in Knightsbridge 2019?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14877417/Trainee-priest-sexually-assaulted-worshippers-booze-addled-cathedral-choristers-did-seven-shots-Christ-drinking-game.html
PewBangor
What shirt colours are we talking?
DeleteNoholesbardsey
The Director of Music shaped choir life and culture; the Sub-Dean had authority and managerial oversight of the Cathedral. Together, as secret lovers they set the tone and protected each other.
ReplyDeleteBBC watcher.
BBC Watcher, clearly you don't watch the BBC, as your facts are incorrect. The Director of Music and Sub-Dean were not 'lovers', and never had a relationship of that nature at all. Just because you want an excuse to complain, do not spread false rumours. Exodus 20:16.
DeleteBenedictus.
They were. They did. The truth will out eventually. Swifty is correct.
DeleteThe pews arrived at the same time as the drinking game. Canon Tracy explains in this article how they hadn't quite been costed yet but that the sale of the old ones would offset the expense. https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/bangor-cathedrals-old-oak-pews-26770207
ReplyDeletePewBangor
Is she naive, culpable or talking through her proverbial?
DeleteAsaph
Canon Tracy is none of these things. She was simply speaking the truth that she knew at that time. As clearly highlighted in other news reports, Sion Rhys Evans purchased that furniture with little input from others - so Canon Tracy was likely simply acting as a spokesperson. Think before you rush to rash conclusions. Proverbs 18:13.
DeleteBenedictus.
Who were the team that went down to London to meet the maker of the pews? Not sure Sion acted entirely on his own in regard to the purchase. So who went with him on yet another jolly, and who paid? Was there a stop off at the Yacht Club?
DeleteShotsInTheDark
Proverbs 15:23
DeleteAsaph
Benedictus....anyone who knows will also know that the lovely Canon has got to her position through sycophantic, blind-following, unquestioning acceptance. She was no doubt a puppet, but was a trustee. A trustee who didn't ask the right questions and didn't challenge injustice. She was perfect putty for the Dear choir member who liked to rule the Den.
DeleteOut-of-it
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/05/british-website-advertising-virgin-muslim-brides/
ReplyDeleteThe joys of multiculturalism know no limits.
Bangor Cathedral will soon be just another mosque.
Bewildered
Bewildered, are you Islamophobic, uneducated, or a mixture of both? You needn't answer, I think your writing speaks for itself. What does this article have to do with Bangor cathedral at all? If you feel a need to spout your hatred for people of other faiths, do that in your own head. There is nothing to be gained from spewing your bigoted hatred online.
DeleteBenedictus.
With which aspects of the Telegraph article do you take issue?
DeleteThe relevance to the Bangor disaster is that no-one from the cult in Wales is speaking out or calling it out, rather like the deafening silence over the activities of the grooming and raping gangs so widespread around the UK for the last two decades.
There is no such thing as Islamophobia, it was invented to defend the indefensible and Islam is no religion but a very nasty political ideology.
Speaking the truth isn't hatred nor is it bigotry.
You think?
More probably merely another left wing Grauniad reading progressive claiming to be the liberal elite.
Bewildered
Excellent summary of the deep and systemic rot in the Church in Wales here:
ReplyDeletehttps://tswyatt.substack.com/p/the-rot-goes-deep
Northern Faithful
It's a good effort but it's a great shame the author only goes back as far as 2008 in terms of the rot on the bench and he's omitted any and all mention of the various Llandaff scandals surrounding His --Darkness Byzantine Barry, Bonaparte, Captain Peacock, the Organ appeal swindle, the lack of accounts, the still unexplained much more depth to the swamp of filth that is Barry Morgan's legacy resignation of Deaness Janet Henderson' after only nine weeks, the Songs of Praise debacle, the Cathedral choir redundancies, the disappearance and etc.excommunication of the little catholic curate Ceirion Gilbert, Capon's poison pen letters, the missing £70k and Aga Saga, the slimy amphibian Mr Toad and so on.
DeleteSo much more depth to the swamp of filth that is Barry Morgan's toxic ☢️ ☣️ legacy.
I'm really cross about all this, really cross. This shameful episode in the life of a medieval cathedral on its 1500th anniversary year is absolutely sickening, the details of which are too depressing to repeat as more and more filth emerges. In a year it could have been a wonderful testimony to the city and diocese, we get this. This is generational damage folks that only a most godly, gifted Dean could start to reverse.
ReplyDeleteThis all goes back to Barry Morgan, he gave Andy John preferment and others who have proved themselves utterly unsuitable for episcopal office. Something deeply sinister and sinful has plagued the bench for decades. It's time for the GB to stand up and take control of the church and curtail the powers of the bench and the House of Bishops.
John should not be allowed to continue until the end of August, thereby manipulating who succeeds him. This retirement farce is hardly the transparent restart we need.
Whamab
Whamab, I agree that John should not be allowed to continue to August. It stops the cathedral from moving forward, and surely his retirement (firing) was meant to show some degree of humility, but this is entirely juxtaposed by the fact that he now has direct influence over his successive dean and bishop.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as a Welsh speaker myself, I completely understand the need to speak Welsh, but I feel like requiring a Welsh speaking dean has narrowed the pool of applicants for the role to an extreme extent. This explains why the role had to be advertised twice. It would not surprise me if the incoming dean is inexperienced, and they will not cope with the obviously tense environment. This will not be a fault of the dean, but rather another fault of Andy John and the CinW RB.
Benedictus.
This is the first time I have contributed to this blog. I maybe have not always agreed with the tone.
ReplyDeleteHowever this time is different. The events described by the BBC after Good Friday at Bangor Cathedral take this whole sorry mess to another nadir. During my time in parish life I think of the extraordinary people I had the joy to serve. People who cared deeply for God and His Church. This diocese by now does not deserve those people. Whoever they were on that Good Friday have torn the heart out of those people.
And who knew? More than we suspect. Everyone attached to the so called 'leadership' are implicated. None of the archdeacons, nor any of the canons should stay in position. They are deeply tainted, every single one of them. David Morris writes in this week's diocesan news letter Y Ddolen that yesterday they were interviewing for a new Dean. How on earth has that been allowed to happen. Rather like a thief appointing his own jury. Everyone attached to leadership-so-called in the diocese should have no say in its future. It should have been one of the RB's top recommendations.
And yes this mess goes back to the Electoral College of 2017. The top 'candidate' was the Archdeacon of Arfon, Meurig Llwyd Williams. The then Archbishop did not want him for reasons of ecclesiastical polity that prevailed at that time regarding the whole of the Anglican Communion. Mr. Llwyd paid the price for that misguided polity. But there were two others who were more than ready to put the knife in. One 'lady' who is now in the north of England in high office turned to her comrade in arms and said audibly: Here goes. She proceeded to demolish Mr Llwyd's character. Immediately after this appalling episode, the then chair cleverly-or not!- adjourned the meeting for lunch, thereby denying a right of reply and allowing the poison to seep int members' sandwiches . It was one of the most unworthy episodes in electoral college history. And in walked the present bishop of Bangor. Stage managed by church policy and personal vitriol. Needless to say both culprits who torpedoed Mr Llwyd were themselves in the end torpedoed by the present regime.
I was told that the present regime was not able to work with Mr Llwyd. Mr Llwyd wisely left and followed a very distinguished career in the diocese of Europe as Archdeacon under Bishop Geoffrey Rowell and is by now serving the Irish church. Mr Llwyd was intellectually bright, and of a deep Catholic faith. Had polity and vitriol not ruled the day the diocese of Bangor would not be in this mess. Heads should bow in shame for what happened. Three heads in particular.
What this points to in the end is a need for reform within the Church in Wales.
The present situation in Bangor is a symptom of the rot in the body politic. Bishops who swallow hook line and sinker cheap and trite 'evangelical' 'strategies' for church growth. There is clearly a brain drain within the ranks. We are no longer attracting sufficient people of intellectual abilities and therefor key leadership positions are filled by second-sometimes-third raters. Proper analysis of the state of religion in Wales in equally filled by hasty and in the end nonsensical thins like the Harris Report implemented over night thoughtlessly. Things like messy church are promoted as the 'answer.' We are living with a church that we haven't got and ignoring the one we have.Bishops are desperate and hence the structures reek of crisis management. A sign of that is top heaviness. Why does Bangor need three archdeacons, plus their admin support, an assistant bishop, a bishop's chaplain? A good team, we are told. But without a stadium, without supporters, without even a ball, and clearly by now with the rule book torn up in this game where the only score are own goals.
Rhigyfarch
I agree. Perhaps not all the clergy needs to go, but certainly those who were complicit in these events absolutely should.
DeleteBenedictus.
Has anyone else noticed that the cathedral is clearly trying to omit information about the more nefarious proceedings in the Bangor diocese? The media is constantly reporting on the various safeguarding issues (all of which are to do with people over 18, but it is a buzzword which makes people think of child abuse), and now the choir, but few major news outlets seem to be reporting on the more significant ongoings at the cathedral. The party for Sion Rhys Evans' ordination, how Sion Rhys Evans was let through by the archbishop, and the bullying of various members of staff has not made it through.
ReplyDeleteVery poor reporting from the BBC today. The title and content initially seems to condemn the choir, but the only message of substance therein is that there is a drinking culture in the choir. While this is certainly less than ideal, it is normal in every cathedral choir in the country, whether you like it or not. The simple solution here is to employ a choir chaplain.
The REAL issue highlighted in that BBC article is that a member of the choir was ASSAULTED by a trainee priest. How is this not the title of the article? How is the conduct of Andy John, and this priest not being investigated more thoroughly? It is truly appalling that more trivial matters are being over-reported while issues such as this slip under the radar. No doubt, the CinW press releases have something to do with this. I'm particularly not fond of this reporting, as it makes it seem like there is substantiative blame to be meted out on the music staff, when in reality any minor mistakes they have made are irrelevant when compared to the bigger Bangor issue.
Benedictus.