The Bishop of Warrington, Bev Mason, has revealed that she was the female bishop who made a complaint of sexual harassment against the Bishop of Liverpool, Dr John Perumbalath, who resigned this week.
Dr Perumbalath resigned on Thursday after being accused of sexual misconduct by Bishop Mason and a woman in the Diocese of Chelmsford. He has denied the allegations.
In a pastoral letter to the Diocese of Liverpool on Thursday, Bishop Mason said that in March 2023 while she acting Bishop of Liverpool, she raised “significant concerns” about Dr Perumbalath, including her own disclosure, after being advised of a separate complaint raised against him.
She said she had spent the time since then pursuing “proper and appropriate ecclesiastical judicial process” but felt that the Church has still not “properly and satisfactorily addressed concerns that have been raised”.
“A bishop cannot be above the law. A bishop cannot be dealt with differently from a priest. If anything, a bishop must be held to greater scrutiny. This is a biblical imperative,” she said.
She went on to call for change in the Church of England.
“My prayer is that now things have been brought into the light, there will be no more defendedness but an honest scrutiny of what we are doing, how we are doing it, where the gaps sit and how we address them,” she said.
She added, “This, I hope and pray, will be a kairos moment for the church – a time of honesty, humility, repentance, unity, hope and blessing – a time when we can tear down the idols that have disoriented us and raise up again the incarnate God, who was crucified, is glorified and who is the Lord of the Church – the Lord of all.”
Dr Perumbalath denied the allegations in a letter announcing he had taken the decision to retire in order to stop the allegations becoming a “distraction”.
“Earlier this week I was approached by Channel 4 News, who informed me they would be broadcasting a story containing allegations of inappropriate behaviour by me against two different women,” he said.
“Since those allegations were made, I have consistently maintained that I have not done anything wrong and continue to do so. Since the claims were made in 2023, they have been investigated and considered by experts from the National Safeguarding Team and had found them unsubstantiated.
“The first allegation was also investigated by the police, resulting in no further action. Despite this, media reports have treated me as guilty on all charges and treated these allegations as fact.”
He added: “This rush to judgement and my trial by media (be that social or broadcast) has made my position untenable due to the impact it will have on the Diocese of Liverpool and the wider Church whilst we await further reviews and next steps.”
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has come under pressure to resign over claims he tried to influence members of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) into approving Dr Perumbalath as the Bishop of Liverpool despite concerns about him. Archbishop Cottrell has denied the claims.
