Church of England bishops ‘very deeply shaken’ by sudden departure of the Bishop of Liverpool

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The sudden retirement of the Bishop of Liverpool, John Perumbalath, following a Channel 4 report of sex abuse and harassment claims against him, has stunned the Church of England. In a Religion Media Centre briefing, the Bishop of Blackburn, Philip North, said the bishops who met last week, were “very, very deeply shaken” by the turn of events. The panel also considered a crisis of trust in the church, disillusioned clergy, the role of the media, the need for independent safeguarding and tighter employment rules. Fr Alex Frost, from Burnley said: “We’re running two parallel universes here. We’re running the hierarchy of the Church of England that is in disarray, and we’ve got the local churches that are going about their business, doing their best, against the backdrop of a church that seems to be in in free fall. What chance have you got when you’ve got this as the backdrop?” Bp Perumbalath denies the allegations.

View the briefing again, listen to the podcast or read the report, at the Religion Media Centre