The bishop at the centre of a “bullying” scandal accused a trainee priest of being mentally unstable and unsuitable for ordination after she voiced concerns during a meeting, it has been claimed.
A number of clergy and church employees came forward three years ago to claim that the Right Rev Anne Dyer, the Anglican bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney, had made their working lives intolerable.
Dyer has denied any wrongdoing, accusing a “small cabal of church members” who object to women bishops and same-sex marriage of waging a relentless campaign against her.
Her return to duties was announced last week, following a two-year suspension, after her church’s senior legal officer ruled that it would “no longer be in the public interest” to pursue the allegations made against her.
The abandonment of a scheduled church trial has prompted Dr Henna Cundill, one of the complainants, to speak publicly.
She alleges Scotland’s first woman bishop banged her fist on a table and “threatened” her after telling her she would be prevented from becoming a priest.
Cundill, now a researcher at the University of Aberdeen, first encountered Dyer, 67, at a meeting in 2017 where she was representing student trainees within the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC).
“The students felt there were teething issues and things that needed to be worked through and it was my role to raise those concerns,” she said.
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