| THE Bishop of St Davids, the Rt Revd Carl Cooper, has agreed to take leave of absence after consultation with the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan.
Dr Morgan has been asked to investigate allegations about the nature of the relationship between Bishop Cooper and his chaplain and communications officer, the Revd Mandy Williams-Potter.
Twenty-three clergy in the diocese of St Davids have signed a letter asking Dr Morgan to look into rumours about a liaison, which have been circulating since Mrs Williams-Potter accompanied the Bishop on a working trip to Uganda last April.
The murmuring intensified after the recent announcement to his clergy by the 47-year-old Bishop that he was separating from his wife, Joy, after 25 years of marriage (News, 29 February). The Bishop stated at the time that no one else was involved.
Mrs Williams-Potter, who is 38, has also separated recently from her husband, Christopher, a teacher. She, too, has said that no third party is involved.
The letter from clerics, written ten days ago, was initiated by the Revd Dr William Strange, Vicar of St Peter’s, Carmarthen, and the Revd Peter Jones, Vicar of St Gwynog’s, Llangennech. In it, Dr Strange and Mr Jones said they wrote “with a heavy heart” to petition the Archbishop and the Bench of Bishops to institute a process under the constitution of the Church in Wales “to establish the facts surrounding the Bishop’s current situation and to take whatever action, if any, proves necessary”.
Speaking this week, Dr Strange said that they had written because of the coincidence of the breakdown of the two marriages, and the closeness of the relationship between the Bishop and Mrs Williams-Potter.
“The situation needs a process to give the Bishop and his chaplain a chance to establish the blamelessness of their conduct,” he said. He was not accusing them, “but if we were in comparable circumstances as clerics, we would expect to be subject to a process to establish the facts. It is a neutral process, not a condemnation in any way.”
A spokeswoman for Dr Morgan said: “Any allegation of misconduct against a cleric in the Church of Wales must be investigated as a matter of course. Discussions with those involved are taking place, and the Archbishop is taking advice.”
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