Church drops complaint about new archbishop's handling of abuse case

The Church of England will take no further action in relation to a complaint about the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury's handling of an abuse case.

It emerged in December that Dame Sarah Mullally had been accused in 2020 of improperly handling a complaint against a priest in London, but the allegation against her had not been properly looked into.

She acknowledged last month that the complaint against her had not been dealt with correctly but said the original abuse claim had been fully handled by the Diocese of London.

The complainant will be able to appeal against the Archbishop of York's decision not to further pursue the case against Dame Sarah, who is due to become the first woman to lead the Church at the end of January.

Officials said in December that she had not been told about the complaint against her when it was made, and that it had not been handled properly due to "administrative errors and an incorrect assumption about the individual's wishes".

A spokesperson from the office of the Archbishop of York said on Thursday that the Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell had "issued his determination not to take any further action in relation to a CDM (clergy discipline measure) complaint originally filed against Bishop Sarah Mullally in 2020".

There are renewed questions about the process by which the decision was made.

Andrew Graystone, an advocate for church abuse survivors and victims, said: "No one will be surprised that the Archbishop of York has dismissed the complaint against his friend and colleague the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, given that in three weeks' time it will be her job to pass judgment on disciplinary complaints against him."

"The Church needs to rebuild the trust of survivors - and of the public - from a very low base.

"The idea the bishops can only be judged by other bishops does nothing to help this."

Dame Sarah is due to be officially confirmed as the most senior member of clergy in the Church of England at the end of January.

She was named as the next archbishop in October and will replace Justin Welby, who stepped down in 2025 after a damning report accused him of significant failures in relation to a prolific child abuser.

Cottrell has taken on most of Welby's responsibilities in the interim, but has himself faced calls to step down over his handling of another abuse case.

Graystone said of Thursday's decision: "Survivors of abuse in the Church of England aren't likely to have any confidence that they will be treated justly, given the incestuous complaints processes of the Church of England."

The Church has long insisted that processes in relation to safeguarding have become better in recent years and will improve further as it looks to bring in independent safeguarding officers.

But late last year the Charity Commission said the Church was taking too long to implement the measures it had promised to help better deal with abuse.