Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

Pointing and laughing at religious lunacy for more than half-a-century

Sexual abuse and allegations of binge-drinking led to the downfall of the Archbishop of Wales

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FOLLOWING damning reports of about sexual misbehaviour and alcohol abuse by some members of the Church in Wales, Archbishop Andrew John, above, suddenly announced his retirement at the end of last month, and it’s now reported by the BBC that police are investigating historical sexual abuse allegations within the church.

Sexual predator Anthony Pierce

Former Bishop of Swansea and Brecon Anthony Pierce, jailed for child sexual abuse earlier this year, faces fresh historical sex abuse allegations while a former vicar is also being investigated by South Wales Police.

John’s sudden retirement follows a turbulent period for his Bangor diocese, after the publication of the summaries of two reports into ruinous failures last month.

The summaries mentioned “a culture in which sexual boundaries seemed blurred” and excessive alcohol consumption as well as governance and safeguarding weaknesses at Bangor Cathedral.

Seven last shots of Christ

After Andrew John confirmed he would be stepping down with immediate effect and will also retire as Bishop of Bangor on August 31, the Christian Post reported he expressed regret over a “drinking culture” within his diocese after reports surfaced that priests and choir members took part in a “seven last shots of Christ” game at a pub following a Good Friday concert. He said the revelations were “a shock” and described the behavior as saddening and inappropriate.

CP added that lay clerk Esmé Byrd, who sang regularly with the cathedral choir for six months until January 2023, said the drinking culture was “deeply unhealthy.”

Byrd told BBC Wales Investigates that some people at the cathedral were getting “catastrophically drunk” and there was a near-constant presence of alcohol around services and events. She also raised concerns about sexual jokes made in front of children and the lack of safeguarding training or proper vetting for those working with minors.

John claimed that he had been unaware of the drinking culture until it was publicly reported, and while he accepted responsibility for failing to address systemic issues, he said he had made efforts to improve matters before stepping down.

Three alleged victims of sexual abuse from across Wales whose allegations span decades, have said they want an independent inquiry into the Church in Wales abuse.

One of the three, Alisdair Adams, told the BBC of an encounter he had had with Anthony Pierce when he was an 18-year-old university student in the 1980s. Adams said:

He grabbed me and pulled me into him and held me tightly. I could feel his erect penis through his brown nylon trousers.

Hat tip: BarrieJohn

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3 responses to “Sexual abuse and allegations of binge-drinking led to the downfall of the Archbishop of Wales”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Being titled the bishop of Bangor likely made banging seem legitimate, added to that was the free communion blood of the guy nailed to a stick, not surprising he was a drunken sexual predator – a penance of three hail-marys should suffice.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Matilda Avatar
    Matilda

    When ‘Andy’, as he liked to be called, cos it sounded cool, was just Bishop of Bangor, I was still x-tian and went to our local parish church in Bangor diocese. We held an annual retreat and had some excellent speakers. I particularly recall 2 different ones who put in a lot of work for their addresses, their programmes and had good thought-provoking questions for our group discussions. They really wanted us to have a meaningful time of refreshment and learning. Then, one year Bishop Andy was our leader. He said the weekend’s topic was prayer. At every session, he read a few bible verses and then said to go away individually and meditate in silence on what god wanted us to know. He then did nothing to direct the responses, just said ‘Mmm’ and asked for another person to speak. My hubs was astute and tried to pin him down, to give an opinion on someone else’s comments and I swear you could see him freeze….he just didn’t want to put in the effort. My ‘meditations’ consisted of thinking that this guy was a fraud, he’d not put in an ounce of preparation. he was just having an excellent all-inclusive hotel weekend, paid for by our church. The odd time I heard him preach after that, I felt the same, he was a lightweight, not up to the job of humble curate, let alone bishop. I was appalled he got the job of archbishop and can’t help doing a private LOL that he’s been found out for the weak character that I’d personally thought him to be.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. malcolmjdodd Avatar
      malcolmjdodd

      Perhaps he was elevated so as not to disrupt the kiddie-fiddling that is the norm for these simple-minded religishits.

      My daughter has been trying to find a youth club or similar activity in the small town she has just moved to with her hubby and three kids (ages 15, 13 and 10). All that she can find is summer activity one day a week organised by a vicar, who promises “to provide answers to the big questions”. Holly is phoning the the vicar to find out which scientist will be answering these important questions, as a scientist herself she is offering to step in!

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