THE Church should find out if any existing members of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) leaked confidential information, the Dean of St Albans, the Very Revd Dr Jeffrey John, said this week.

A letter from Dr John was published in The Guardian on Monday, in response to a story about Professor Glynn Harrison, a lay member of the CNC, alleging that he believed that sexual orientation could be changed (News, 13 April, Letters, page 15).

Dr John said that there was a “matter which ought to be cleared up” before the CNC met to nominate the next Archbishop of Canterbury. “In July 2010, someone on the CNC leaked to the press the fact that I was a shortlisted candidate for the See of Southwark (News, 9 July 2010). The Archbishop of Canterbury set up an inquiry into the leak under Baroness Fritchie. This inquiry was never published, and was said to have been unable to reach a conclusion.”

Dr John’s letter went on to refer to a memorandum sent to the Fritchie inquiry by the former Dean of Southwark, the Very Revd Colin Slee, and published last year. Dean Slee, who died in late 2010, was a permanent member of the CNC.

In the memorandum, Dr John said that Dean Slee had “expressed his great distress at having been ostracised because he was regarded by many, including both Archbishops, as the probable source of the leak. Colin made the point that to suspect him was ludicrous, since he strongly supported me for the Southwark post, and the obvious purpose of the leak was to stir up threats of reaction among hardline Evangelicals and frighten the CNC out of appointing me.”

Last year, the journalist responsible for the original story, Jonathan Wynne-Jones, wrote on the Daily Telegraph website that Dean Slee had not leaked the story to him.

Dr John’s letter concluded: “It would be good to know that steps are being taken to identify the real culprit and ensure that he will not be involved in nominating the new Archbishop or in any further appointment.”