Incoming Archbishop of Canterbury faces complaint over handling of abuse allegation

Church of England authorities are considering a complaint against the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury over her handling of an abuse allegation.

The Right Reverend Dame Sarah Mullally, who is due to take office on January 28, has been accused of improperly handling a complaint against a priest in London, where she currently serves as bishop.

Lambeth Palace officials said the complaint was initially made in 2020, but was not followed up on due to “administrative errors and an incorrect assumption about the individual’s wishes”.

Dame Sarah was not informed of the complaint at the time, church authorities confirmed.

A palace spokesman said church authorities had written to the complainant — known as N — to outline the next steps.

“Due to administrative errors and an incorrect assumption about the individual’s wishes, the complaint was not taken forward or appropriately followed up,” they said.

“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 provincial registrar has apologised to those involved and urgent arrangements are now being made for the complaint to be considered according to the relevant statutory process.”

The complaint will be assessed and sent to the Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York, who is responsible for deciding whether a claim should be dismissed or warrants a formal response.

Mr Cottrell has the authority to refer the matter to a conciliator, impose sanctions or escalate it to a church tribunal for further investigation.

Dame Sarah said the victim had been “let down” and that she was seeking assurances procedures had been reformed.

She said: “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.

“I am seeking assurance that processes have been strengthened to ensure any complaint that comes into Lambeth Palace is responded to in a timely and satisfactory manner.”

She continued: “The Church’s processes have to change, both for complainants, and for the clergy who are the subject of complaints. Today, I am one of those clergy.

“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.”

Her predecessor, Justin Welby, formally resigned in January, having announced his intention to step down two months earlier amid criticism over failures in handling a safeguarding scandal.

The resignation followed an independent review by Keith Makin, which concluded Mr Welby had not done enough to address allegations of abuse by Christian camp leader John Smyth.

The report stated that Smyth “could and should have been formally reported to the police in the UK, and to authorities in South Africa (church authorities and potentially the police) by church officers, including a diocesan bishop and Justin Welby in 2013”.