The Church of England’s lead bishop for safeguarding has said that the new Archbishop of Canterbury must be allowed “room to lead”.
Rt Rev Joanne Grenfell was talking just days before Rt Rev Dame Sarah Mullally is confirmed in her role as archbishop on Wednesday at a ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Her comments come after calls for the confirmation to be paused in the light of safeguarding failings in the Diocese of London. Questions over Bishop Sarah’s safeguarding record while serving as Bishop of London have escalated after a Premier Christian News investigation into the case of a man known as Survivor N. The Church of England restarted a complaint into a priest at the centre of N’s allegations despite Bishop Sarah saying it had been “fully dealt with”. The Bishop of Fulham, Rt Rev Jonathan Baker is currently overseeing that complaint.
In a statement to the Press Association, Bishop Joanne who was installed as Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich at a ceremony at the weekend, said:
“Scrutiny is right – but let’s also give Sarah room to lead as we work to grow a safer Church that serves communities across England, bringing people to Christ. I will be praying for her as she begins this vital ministry.”
The bishop added that Dame Sarah showed “full commitment to safeguarding – strengthening systems and processes, and improving the culture across a large, complex organisation…
“She gets it, she cares about it and she prioritises it.”
She added: “In areas where poor practice had gone unchallenged in the past, she didn’t look away. She tackled issues with clarity and principle, and made sure concerns were followed through with care and rigour.”
Responding to the comments on social media site X London vicar Robert Thompson posted: “A Church that shields its leaders can’t preach trust. Survivors don’t need reassurance — they need accountability. It has become very clear given all that has occurred since @bishopSarahM was announced as the new @OfficeofABC that means reforming the episcopacy. There is far too much unaccountable power in the hands of too few for too long. If Sarah wants to make a real long term impact upon the church that rebuilds trust that is where we now need focus.”