Some survivors of church-related abuse have told Premier Christian News that the appointment of Rt Rev Dame Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury won't herald the safeguarding culture change needed in the church.

The 63 year old current Bishop of London was announced yesterday as the 106th Archbishop. In her address at Canterbury Cathedral she pledged to listen to survivors and the vulnerable.

Gilo who was abused by a clergyman in the Church of England in the 1970s gave his reaction to Premier:

“It's clearly a very historic day and there’ll be a tremendous amount of excitement within the church, but not necessarily all of the church.

“From a survivors and safeguarding point of view, I would say it's a rather disappointing day. This is not a day that many survivors will greet with excitement.”

Gilo’s case led to the Elliot Review in 2016 which found that while he had reported his abuse on many occasions, no significant action had been taken or records made of the allegations. It condemned the Church of England’s safeguarding processes as ‘fundamentally flawed’.

Gilo said that Bishop Sarah had been mandated by former archbishop Justin Welby to look after the Elliot review, but his “initial experience of her was pretty positive, but following that, my experience was not positive at all, She silenced and blanked. I don't know whether she was instructed by others to close down key questions, but certainly in response to key questions about the Elliott review, she just blanked and silenced. I've heard from others that that's been a pattern.”

Over the last decade, Gilo has since been central to efforts by survivors to gain recognition and redress from the Church of England. He said he and other victims of abuse would have preferred other bishops on the shortlist:

“There are notable bishops who I think are determined to see cultural shift, particularly around accountability and transparency and integrity, right at the very top of the church, in the senior tier. I think that sadly, Bishop Mulally is the continuity candidate after Archbishop Welby. I don't think she particularly represents a desire or willingness to bring about accountability.”

In her address shortly after being announced as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Sarah committed to "continue to listen to survivors, care for the vulnerable, and foster a culture of safety and well-being for all...

"Our history of safeguarding failures have left a legacy of deep harm and mistrust, and we must all be willing to have light shone on our actions, regardless of our role in the Church...

"Safeguarding is everyone’s business. But for those of us in senior leadership, it carries an added weight of accountability."