Jeffrey John says the then archbishop told electors that people in civil partnerships were ineligible for the post

A gay Anglican clergyman who has been rejected as the next bishop of Llandaff was allegedly blocked from appointment as a bishop in Wales twice before on the grounds of his civil partnership.

Jeffrey John, the dean of St Albans Cathedral, told the Guardian his name was put forward for election as bishop of Bangor in 2008 and mooted as bishop of St Asaph the following year.



On both occasions, he said, the then archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, told electors that people in civil partnerships were not eligible to be consecrated. “This was untrue, since an official statement of the Church in Wales in December 2005 had made it clear that civil partnership was open to all clergy and lay people alike,” said John.



Morgan had “no legal or canonical basis [for his declaration] that anyone who was civilly partnered was ineligible,” he added.



Anglican clergyman accuses Church in Wales of homophobia Read more

“A number of the electors who were involved in these appointments, and who remain angry about the deception, have contacted me with this information since the publicity surrounding the Llandaff election.”



In 2008, Rowan Williams, then archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the global Anglican communion, issued a moratorium on the consecration of Anglican bishops in civil partnerships to avoid a split in the church.

A spokesperson for the Church in Wales declined to comment on the confidential electoral college processes in 2008 and 2009, but said: “As president of the electoral college in 2008-9, archbishop Barry Morgan reminded members of the moratorium on consecrating bishops in civil partnerships placed on provinces by the Anglican communion. However, he did not tell electors that people in civil partnerships were ineligible for posts.”

Morgan was an advocate of gay rights in the church and, before retiring in January, urged the church to rethink its stance on same-sex marriage, saying the Bible had more than one view on homosexuality.

Welsh bishops may meet as early as Wednesday to consider new candidates for the Llandaff post amid mounting pressure to review the decision to exclude John from the process.



Nine Labour MPs have written to the five sitting bishops to “place our concerns … on the public record”. They said they had heard “from many quarters of concerns and allegations relating to homophobic comments made during the election process for the appointment of a bishop of Llandaff”.



Referring to a comment made to John by one of the bishops, they added: “We are of the opinion that ‘exhaustion’ cannot be acceptable as a reason not to appoint someone eminently qualified and what we are informed was the unanimous choice of the electors of Llandaff.”



The process “has been flawed and has led to considerable disharmony and confusion”, the MPs said as they called for a cooling-off period in the appointments process to be followed by a fresh election and “an open and transparent” decision.



The chapters of two Anglican cathedrals, St Albans and Ely, have called for John’s exclusion from the appointments process to be reconsidered.

John was considered last month by the electoral college that normally appoints new bishops. Although he won more than half the votes in the college, and is believed to have had the unanimous backing of electors from Llandaff, he failed to reach the required two-thirds majority. The appointment then fell to the bishops, and all previous candidates were ruled out.



After the college meeting, John was told that homophobic comments were made and were unchallenged by the chair. In a letter to John Davies, the bishop of Swansea and Brecon, John claimed the only arguments made against his appointment, by two bishops in particular, “were directly related to my homosexuality and/or civil partnership – namely that my appointment would bring unwelcome and unsettling publicity to the diocese, and that it might create difficulties for the future archbishop [of Wales] in relation to the Anglican communion”.



A bishop present at the college’s deliberations told John that “the bishops were just ‘too exhausted’ to deal with the problems they believed my appointment would cause”.



After the electoral college failed to produce a result, Welsh bishops consulted clergy and congregations over the appointment. John claimed that many people – “we suspect hundreds” – had written in support of his appointment.

In 2003, John was nominated as bishop of Reading, but was asked by Williams to stand aside after some traditionalists threatened to leave the Church of England if his consecration went ahead.



John and his long-term partner, Grant Holmes, another C of E clergyman, entered a civil partnership in 2006. The Church in Wales allows clergy to be in same-sex relationships and civil partnerships and – in contrast to the C of E – does not insist on celibacy in such relationships.



The Church in Wales has strongly denied allegations of homophobia.



It said: “We understand the disappointment felt by all the candidates considered by the electoral college who did not secure enough support to be elected as bishop of Llandaff. However, we are satisfied that the electoral college process was carried out properly and fairly. The meeting was confidential and we will not comment on speculation about the nomination and discussion of candidates.

“However, we strongly deny allegations of homophobia in the process. Neither homosexuality nor participation in a civil partnership are a bar to any candidate being either nominated or elected as a bishop in the Church in Wales. Moreover, this was made clear to members of the electoral college by its president, the bishop of Swansea and Brecon.”