The Archbishop of Wales, Andy John, has resigned after members of a leading Church in Wales body said they had lost confidence in his leadership.

It has emerged that a meeting of the Church’s Representative Body on Tuesday June 24 passed a resolution that put pressure on him to quit.

He agreed to go and an announcement was made on Friday evening, June 27.

Mr John has faced months of increasingly intense criticism and this morning Nation.Cymru revealed that the Charity Commission had opened an inquiry into two Church in Wales charities in his home diocese of Bangor, where he is also the Bishop.

Inappropriate sexual behaviour

In May 2025, independent investigators reported incidents of inappropriate sexual behaviour and other serious safeguarding concerns that left people feeling unsafe.

The cathedral had been led by its Sub Dean Sion Rhys Evans, whose appointment by the Archbishop had been controversial and who eventually left his post under a cloud after 10 months gardening amid concerns about alleged financial irregularities and other matters.

Earlier this week Archbishop John issued a personal statement in which he said: “[This] is an appropriate time for me to address the whole Church in Wales family regarding what they may have heard, and what has taken place, regarding the situation at Bangor Cathedral and Diocese.

“Firstly, I wish to apologise for errors of judgement I have made that have caused anxiety and hurt. My apology to you all is heartfelt, unreserved, and unequivocal.

“In the autumn of last year, I commissioned two independent reports into Bangor Cathedral. Abridged versions of both are now publicly available on our websites and reveal shortcomings and poor organisational practice which should not have occurred. I deeply regret that they happened under my episcopate and I recognize I ought to have done more to ensure such failings did not occur. I also take full responsibility that I did not address these matters quickly enough. I recognize our witness to Jesus Christ and our mission to Wales has been damaged and I repent and offer no excuses nor justifications. I am committed to an ongoing process of reflection to ensure these unacceptable events do not happen again.

“I am grateful that the Church in Wales is seeking to assist both the cathedral and diocese in re-establishing proper governance arrangements and am also grateful to my episcopal colleagues for their challenge, their love and their support.”

Regulatory compliance case

The Charity Commission told Nation.Cymru: “We have opened a regulatory compliance case to assess a number of concerns that have been raised related to Bangor Cathedral and Diocese, including matters reported directly to us by the charities. We are actively examining these matters with the charities’ trustees to determine our next steps.

The spokesperson added: “While our policy is not to confirm the detailed contents of serious incident reports or complaints from others, the issues being explored by the Commission relate to safeguarding concerns, sufficiency of financial controls, and management of conflicts of interest at the charity/ies.

“We have opened regulatory compliance cases into [charity number] 234156 – Bangor Diocesan Trust, and 1158340 – The Dean and Chapter of Bangor Cathedral.”

Statement

On Friday evening Mr John issued a statement that said: “Dear Friends,  I am writing to you to announce my immediate retirement today as Archbishop of Wales. I also intend to retire as Bishop of Bangor on August 31.

Read it all in Nation.Cymru