Senior leaders in the Diocese of Liverpool say the position of the Bishop of Liverpool, John Perumbalath, is untenable following allegations that he sexually abused a woman in Essex and sexually harassed a woman bishop. He has denied the claims.
In a statement last night, they said the Bishop should step aside from all ministry in the Diocese:
“Having listened to clergy, congregations and staff at the diocesan offices and the cathedral it is with deep regret that the senior leadership of the Diocese of Liverpool feel that the position of the Rt Revd Dr John Perumbalath is currently untenable. We believe that the allegations made by the female bishop need to be fully and properly investigated. We also believe that while these proper investigations are conducted the Bishop of Liverpool will need to step aside from all ministry in the Diocese of Liverpool”.
The statement was signed by: Debra Walker, Chair of the House of Laity; Peter Dawkin, Chair of the House of Clergy; Sue Jones, Dean of Liverpool; Pete Spiers, Archdeacon of Knowsley & Sefton; Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Archdeacon of Liverpool; Simon Fisher, Archdeacon of St Helens and Warrington.
The wording toughened up their initial response published on Tuesday evening, when they published a letter to all clergy and lay people in the diocese, saying they were shocked and saddened by the allegations which they described as upsetting. They called for a full investigation into an allegation of misconduct made by one of the women: “We believe that in the interests of justice this should now happen”.
CofE lead bishop on safeguarding adds her call for Perumbalath to step aside
The Church of England’s lead bishop on safeguarding, the Bishop of Stepney Joanne Grenfell, told Channel 4 News last night that she was aware of concerns expressed about Bishop Perumbalath when she took on her role in April 2023, but her colleagues in the National Safeguarding Team had already dealt with it.
She was given some information by one of the complainants in the case in January 2024. She said the woman “made some of the details known to me and I met with her and took that really seriously”.
She agreed that Bishop Perumbalath should step back: “I think these are serious allegations. They need a proper process to look at them, to be fair to everybody involved. But I do think that while that happens, he should step back from ministry to give the church the space to do that properly. It’s what we would do for clergy and I think it’s what should happen for a bishop”.
She welcomed the decision by the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, to ask for a rapid review of decisions made, to see whether anything could or should have been done differently and to establish next steps.
Bishop Grenfell also suggested there needed to be clarity on what was classed as a safeguarding issue or misconduct, and the definition of safeguarding needed to be broad enough to consider the whole picture in such cases.
She said the church faced a huge task to restore trust and confidence and looked ahead to changes to the safeguarding process, which will be voted on at the General Synod meeting in February, with a proposal for full independence around operational safeguarding.
Pressure on appointments committee
The Channel 4 report on Tuesday said Stephen Cottrell and another bishop put pressure on some committee members in charge of approving Perumbalath’s appointment, because it had failed to demonstrate his competence in safeguarding and therefore couldn’t secure the majority vote.
The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen Ann Hartley, picked up this point in a tweet, saying she was dismayed. When she was appointed, at around the same time, she said: “I was told repeatedly that failure in this area would mean automatic disqualification from being considered for a diocesan role.”.
The Church of England said: “We do not recognise the allegation that CNC members are pressured to vote for candidates in what is a careful and prayerful process of discernment”
In a statement it pointed out that Crown Nominations Commission processes are confidential. “The CNC process for Liverpool was concluded months before the allegation was first raised in January 2023, so Commission members could not have been aware of it. An individual’s competence in overseeing safeguarding is given careful scrutiny in multiple ways (formal checks, references, reports, interview questions) as part of the Commission’s discernment. All shortlisted candidates are interviewed by the National Safeguarding Team and a report is written for the CNC. Like all other candidates for this role, Bishop John Perumbalath was interviewed by the National Safeguarding Team who found no concerns about his operational safeguarding experience and recommended some development work for him as he took on additional strategic safeguarding responsibilities – which is commonly the case for new Diocesan Bishops. Any individual nominated to be a Diocesan Bishop in the Church of England needs to have secured the support of two-thirds of the voting members (10 out of 14) of the Commission in a secret ballot.”
Church Times report here
Guardian report here
Telegraph report here
Liverpool Echo report here
