THE Dean of Llandaff, the Very Revd Richard Peers, is to retire, it was announced on Sunday.

A letter from Dean Peers to the Bishop of Llandaff, the Rt Revd Mary Stallard, was read during the Easter Day services in Llandaff Cathedral.

“It has been a great honour to serve as Dean of Llandaff and to share in the life of this congregation,” he wrote, before referring to a complaint which had been made about him under the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) in relation to his time as Sub-Dean of Christ Church, Oxford (News, 26 March).

Dean Peers was accused of making inappropriate and disparaging remarks about the then Dean of Christ Church, Dr Martyn Percy, in the context of Dr Percy’s protracted dispute with the college.

A tribunal cleared Dean Peers of all charges after a four-day hearing in early March, and the barrister acting for Dean Peers characterised the case as a “weaponisation of the CDM”.

“Some of you may be aware that recent years have been challenging and at times distressing,” Dean Peers wrote in his letter to Bishop Stallard, intended to be read to his congregation.

“A complaint was made against me, and a protracted Church of England process followed. This concluded with a church tribunal dismissing the complaint in full and ruling that my honesty and integrity were unimpugned. I continue to pray for all those involved in the process and that we may find healing and peace.

“While this has now been resolved, I have decided the time is right for me to retire. I look back with joy on my three decades of ministry. I have been blessed to be able to devote so much of my life to my faith and the communities in which I have lived and worked, and I wish my successor and all at Llandaff well for the future,” he wrote.

Dean Peers has been Dean of Llandaff since November 2022. Before his move to Christ Church, he was Director of Education for the diocese of Liverpool.

In a statement, Bishop Stallard wrote: “Richard’s instinct to (literally) open the doors of the cathedral and to grow a sense of prayerful welcome will remain with us as an important part of our on-going ministry.”

She announced that the Canon Chancellor, Canon Jan van der Lely, would be Acting Dean until a permanent appointment was made.