Former advocate of the Supreme Court of Uganda, now the Archbishop of York John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu, and four bishops have been accused of misconduct by a Church of England priest who claims they none of the five senior clergy properly responded to his disclosures, made verbally and in writing, of the rapes which he alleged took place in 1984, when he was 16.
The Guardian reported on Tuesday that the anonymous priest filed the written and verbal complaints under the CofE’s clergy disciplinary measure (CDM) against John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York; Peter Burrows, the bishop of Doncaster; Steven Croft, a former bishop of Sheffield, and now bishop of Oxford; Martyn Snow, the bishop of Leicester; and Glyn Webster, the bishop of Beverley.
A West Yorkshire police spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that the force was investigating the report, and that a 69-year-old man had been interviewed.
The alleged rapist, who continued to work as a CofE priest for at least a decade after the alleged offences, is now retired, though he is still licensed to officiate as a priest.
All five have contested the complaints on the grounds that they were made after a one-year time limit for complaints that is required by the church.
Spokespersons for Sentamu and the four bishops said they could not comment on a matter that was the subject of a police investigation and an internal church process.
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About Archbishop Sentamu
John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu fled Uganda to arrive as an immigrant in the United Kingdom in 1974. On 17 June 2005, UK’s prime minister’s office announced Sentamu’s translation to York as the 97th archbishop.
He was formally elected by the chapter of York Minster on 21 July, legally confirmed as archbishop at St Mary-le-Bow, London on 5 October, and enthroned at York Minster on 30 November 2005.
As Archbishop of York, Sentamu sits in the House of Lords and was admitted, as a matter of course, to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.
editor@ugchristiannews.com
