Why this document?
In the past three years, Christ Church has held back from offering commentary on a series of damaging reports regarding its relationship with the former Dean, Dr Martyn Percy. Those reports related to a number of disputes between the institution and its Head of House, the earliest of which dates back to 2017 while the most recent concerned an allegation of sexual harassment made against Dr Percy by Alannah Jeune. During this time, despite attacks on it and its members by supporters of the former Dean, Christ Church has consistently tried to avoid making pronouncements in the hope of avoiding a destructive cycle of claim and counter-claim. The trustees (Christ Church’s Governing Body) have been mindful that they all have both a duty of confidentiality and a general duty to place the charity’s interests above their own and have sought to calm rather than inflame damaging media attention…
Read the whole document on the Christ Church website.
1 June update
A refutation of the above has been published on the Turbulent Priest website.
Some comments from colleagues and supporters of the former Dean. In every case, supporting evidence – written – is readily available for what is set out below….
“They who have put out
the peoples eyes
reproach them
of their blindnesse”
John Milton – 1642
Reading these words from the Christ Church Oxford Governing Body reminds me of the words of the Professor of Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy at Magdalen College Oxford, J.A. Smith [1863-1939], when lecturing to his new students for the first time:
“Nothing that you will learn in the course of your studies will be of the slightest possible use to you in life, save only this: if you work hard and diligently you should be able to detect when a man is talking rot; and that, in my view, is the main, if not the sole, purpose of education”
I have pre-ordered for Christmas the ‘Ladybird Book of Boris Denials’ (revised edition) and the companion ‘Ladybird Book of Boris Claims’ (revised edition). Both books come with a fact-checker as an appendix, and it would take the average 7-11 year-old about half-an-hour to complete. Adult readers can have just as much fun with the Christ Church essay, although it will take around 90 minutes to work through the fact-checker. I have also pre-ordered the new successor to the best-selling ‘Where’s Wally?’ books. In ‘Where’s the Leadership in CofE Safeguarding?’, hours of fun can be had trying to find anyone in… Read more »
Bravo!
Who now would want to lead an independent review? The pressure to support the House line, expressed so publicly, will be intense. It will also be an extremely difficult environment for the next Head of House to step into. Even if this is an accurate and complete narrative (and I am continuing my policy of not expressing a view either way), I think this statement was ill-advised.
“Ill-advised’ would be an understatement.
Such a statement clearly shows that – beyond any shadow of a doubt – the Christ Church Governing Body have a pathological inability to admit any wrong-doing. They think they are right.
Those people responsible (or irresponsible) for such a statement – whoever they are – are not just making Christ Church Oxford an on-going laughing-stock; they are a liability to the whole institution.
Does ‘The Christ Church Governing Body’ have a code of ethics? Or are the members just free to express their own opinions regardless of established FACTS? If the latter, then no amount of public protest about their treatment of Dean Percy will make one iota of difference to the oppositional dons. Perhaps the more important question now is: What effect will this have on the enrolment of future students and staff at Christ College – an institution once honoured and respected for its educational environment?
I expect the deliberations of the governing body have more support within the university community than we might give imagine in our rarefied world of church politics. The document contains either agreed facts or disputed facts, and if disputed will be corroborated by credible witnesses. We seem to be closer to the truth than at any time during this long saga.
Wait for the Charity Commission that is more than up to the task
The word “pathological” is not used lightly – which I see as a serious psychological condition in which there is a failure to see what is blindingly obvious in front of a nose.
Well, given the gaps between the two accounts, it’s fair to say one of the parties appears to be “pathological”.
Happily, it will not be too long before some truly skilled and independent investigators get to examine this narrative, requiring all the required paperwork to be delivered and individual trustees and officers called personally to account. I speak of the Charity Commission in which we can all have confidence. Equally, the Solicitors Regulation Authority is undertaking a thorough investigation of claims against the solicitors who thought it appropriate to simultaneously have its lawyers advise the Malcontent Dons, the Bishop, Diocese, Province and Archbishop in a complex long running dispute. Conflicts of interest are only part of the problem. The SRA… Read more »
Some of the investigators will make their reports public, which will at least bypass some of the spin and selective quotation. I think we do not yet have a proper account of why so much effort was put into the suppressing of Sir Andrew Smith’s conclusions, so that not even some trustees on the governing body were supposed to see his report, even though it analysed action taken in their name. None of those allegations was suggested to involve safeguarding or vulnerable adults – or at least all the noise was about the Dean’s pay. It seems likely that the… Read more »
If I had had the misfortune to be a member of the GB, and hence a charity trustee, at the time, and told that I was not allowed to read the report of the Smith tribunal, I think that would have been the point at which I would have resigned my trusteeship, copying my letter to the Charity Commission. I’m very sorry for those GB members, because their jobs, and hence salaries, are linked to their trusteeship — an anomaly which has clearly passed its use-by date.
I agree. The obvious step is to move to a corporate trustee and include at least some professional trustees. In my opinion it should have been done years ago. There is a problem – I think it requires a change in university regulations. At the end of 2021 the University Chancellor wrote to Christ Church. I recall a huffy response from the college which seemed like a waste of a golden opportunity to lobby for change in permitted trustee arrangements. Indeed, the university could even set up a trustee company itself and make it available to all of the colleges.… Read more »
I think that there is something in this. Whether a head stays or goes will depend on the context. In the case of Stephen Tumin (principal of St Edmund Hall, 1996-98), it became evident by his second year in post that he did not have the confidence of a large section of the GB, so decided to fall on his sword (though with regret, and to the dismay of most undergraduates; apparently, he had not been on speaking terms with some fellows, including the bursar, for a year before his departure). In the case of John Tusa at Wolfson, Cambridge,… Read more »
It shouldn’t be too easy to get rid of a head of house otherwise they don’t have the security to bring about necessary but unpopular changes. It’s about finding a balance. Someone said that fixed term appointments aren’t possible because it is a Crown appointment. I disagree. By convention all senior members of the Royal Household offer to resign on death of the monarch so that the new monarch can bring in their own team. It ought to be possible to put in the Statutes that the Dean is to offer his/her resignation say every 4 years for example. It’s… Read more »
I am sure there have been issues on both sides of this sorry story and I hope much will be learned. However this statement, I feel, is not acceptable. No mention is made of mistakes on both sides – it is entirely exculpatory and full of self congratulation. I guess they are working hard to restore confidence by others in them, however honesty. Nowhere is their thanks to the dean for work he has done and best wishes offered for his future. However this is an awful attack by a significant body against one man. It in fact contrary to… Read more »
I think an issue with regard to the Diocese of Oxford is the issue of partisanship, and whether it remained impartial in its news releases. The recent wording from their comms head might by some be taken to indicate a lack of impartiality in its reporting, or even construed as an (ongoing?) attempt to smear the Dean. “We are deeply saddened by the inaccurate and unevidenced claims Dr Percy makes in his media interviews… We’ve long said that the actions of some of Dr Percy’s supporters have left people damaged and hurt. None more so than Alannah Jeune. It’s a… Read more »
One now wonders, what role did the sub-dean have in the disenfranchisement of the Dean, by barring his entrance to his own cathedral, and who were the sub-dean’s enablers?
There is clearly a party line that wants us all to believe that nothing unpleasant has happened in Christ Church. The Sub Dean has written his own piece which tries to tell us all that everything in the Quad is rosy:
Where Are the Evil Dons? Life in Community at Christ Church | Oikodomeo (home.blog)
You wouldn’t know from this that during the complex dispute with Martyn Percy, one member of the GB was convicted on child pornography charges and another arrested on charges of theft of ancient papyri from the university. Both of those people are no longer at Christ Church. But Richard Peers still lunches with the dons who exchanged emails calling Percy “stupid”, “spiteful”, “a little Hitler”, “incorrigible, thick and a narcissist” and engaged in a jocular discussion about his murder.
Interesting to note the Christ Church Sub Dean received his theological training in Chichester – another Cathedral where its Dean and Chapter are showing the same astonishing ‘I am right’ pathology in relation to Bishop Bell.
Is this intended to be an epiphany when everybody suddenly sees that Percy was the author of both his own misfortune and that of everybody else ? He has feet of clay like the rest of us. He will have said and done things that are regrettable. However, that is completely beside the point. If Christ Church wanted to get rid of him they should have done so by constitutional means – changing their Articles to create fixed terms of office for the Dean would be an obvious method. If that was impossible then they should have lived with the… Read more »
We don’t, anywhere in the Church of England, have a concept of fixed term employment of Cathedral Deans (or bishops). Constantly throughout this saga people seem to have overlooked the fact that the Deanery of Oxford is a Crown appointment. It just happens to have a uniquely different selection process. Ch Ch have commissioned an internal governance review which, inevitably, must look at the conundrums which have so prominently come to the fore about the existing arrangements over the past four years.
Good point about the constitutional position of cathedral deans.
I didn’t mean to imply a simple solution must be available.
Having said that, my basic point stands.
Using fabricated disciplinary proceedings to drive him from office was unjust and unfair.
I don’t disagree with you!
The disciplinary proceedings they opted for were within the bounds of their governing instruments and the only available means for attempting to remove him from office when trust and confidence had been overwhelmingly lost. Concerted efforts were made to settle throughout this long dispute, it seems. How is this indefensible?
As indicated in my separate reply to you below, the disciplinary proceedings, whilst within the bounds of the statutes, were wholly inappropriate and disproportionate to the nature of the alleged offences with dismissal from office being the only ‘guilty’ penalty. The line has rather been taken that we outsiders should not comment. Christ Church have put out public statements at various times saying just that. But other difficulties exist with the Christ Church disciplinary tribunal, apart from the solitary draconian penalty. The members of the tribunal are members of the Governing Body and of the Chapter. They can potentially outvote… Read more »
The final settlement was available two years earlier (well before hairgate) but foundered because the College refused to meet the Dean’s legal costs for their failed 27 allegations on the Smith report. They were told non payment was “ not moral but legal” so refused. They wanted the Dean broken in reputation health and finances – but failed. You have let the cat out the bag. The whole thing was about bullying the Dean out – nothing to do with “ scandalous immoral and disgraceful” conduct. The Dean had proposed Governance reform including modernising terms of tenure but the old… Read more »
Disciplinary proceedings are intended to deal with wrongful behaviour. It is unjust – and a breach of employment law – to use disciplinary proceedings as a means of getting rid of somebody who is not guilty of wrongful behaviour. Failure of performance is an entirely separate category. That is dealt with by whatever constitutional means are defined. In most jobs that is through a performance management process. In the case of Christ Church and its Dean there is clearly no such process. However – and this goes to the heart of the matter – you cannot just make stuff up… Read more »
It’s patently obvious that there’s a lot of confirmation bias going on, on both sides of these issues.
Rather low participation in the discussion here, it seems — almost feels like there might be an echo?
I think much of what can be said has been said in earlier discussions.
First, let me declare an interest. Martyn Percy was my PhD supervisor. He challenged and supported me in equal measure, both, with great knowledge and wit. It was a privilege to have studied with him. But it is not about this that I write. I have recently been involved in a Lessons Learned Review about the Chapter’s handling of Safeguarding issues while I was Dean of Rochester and subsequently. I was contacted by the Reviewer, but only after a former colleague gave him my name (with my consent), and had a 45 minute telephone conversation with him, without, of course,… Read more »
I have to say that this echoes an experience of mine in finding a situation I was in under review. Times seemed to be conflated, and events which had unfolded over a period of over 20 years were treated as if they were virtually simultaneous. A difficult decision made with some courage was vindicated by later events [not by me, and well before my time, but I talked to the people involved – including some who had agreed with the decision and some who had disagreed – and consulted records] and that was not reflected in the narrative. Experience of… Read more »
There will certainly have been episodes in the history of Christ Church when relations between the Dean and the Senior Common Room were strained or worse. It is possible Percy is actually mild mannered compared to some of his more difficult predecessors. The mystery is why did the Senior Common Room not just cope with the situation with Percy as Dean and get on with the job ? People do that all the time in other walks of life and our predecessors certainly had resilience in the face of difficult circumstances Are we really expected to believe that would have… Read more »
On reflection the choice of Percy as Dean strikes me as very curious. Certainly he met the academic & priestly requirement, but in social & political terms he was an obvious misfit for a college which has such a very high opinion of itself. The only explanation that I can see is that the censors thought that he would be so out of his depth that he would defer to them in all matters. However, having got him, like Peter I cannot understand why they could not work round him. Even by Oxbridge academic feud standards the level of venom… Read more »
There will be no expressions of sorrow, regret or acknowledgement of the need for repentance on the part of anyone at Christ Church, let alone its clergy, simply because they will have been told by Winkworth Sherwood and Luther Pendragon that such admissions of failure could be constructed as an admission of guilt and further diminish the already abysmal reputation of the institution.
Meanwhile, the Gospel continues to probe and prod…
But where are the expressions of repentance for the appalling way in which Ms Jeune has been treated by supporters of the Dean, on both wings of the church, ever since her disclosures were leaked into the public domain? This has been done seemingly without regard for the fact that she is an alleged victim of sexual harassment and the strict protocols this entails. Under the circumstances, college officials and the governing body acted entirely appropriately – for which they should be given at least some credit. A comment by “Alice” on the Archbishop Cranmer blog just now describes the… Read more »
Thames Valley Police and Appeals Court Judge Dame Sarah Asplin reached a judgement regarding Ms Jeune’s ‘hair-stroking’ complaint against Dr Martyn Percy.
The Diocese of Oxford and the Christ Church Governors reached a different judgement.
Whose judgement would you best trust?
The only judgment that Dame Sarah made was to conclude that it would have been disproportionate to instigate CDM proceedings since there was a parallel tribunal process available to the college. But given that the college later settled with Ms Jeune (and the former Dean), the tribunal was aborted so no judgment (about the allegations) was ever reached.
The tribunal to which you refer was similar to the previous one in providing only one penalty, namely, dismissal of the Dean from Office. On any showing that was disproportionate – arguably irrational – given the combined findings of Dame Sarah and Thames Valley Police. The matter could, and should, have been dealt with in some different and proportionate way by the Governing Body. They bear responsibility for the public perception and comment that the procedure for dismissal was manifestly unfair. You refer to the settlement in February. Both the Dean and Ms Jeune received generous, one could say exceptionally… Read more »
This is simply wrong.
a. The Tribunal was not”aborted”.
b. A judgement was reached – it was that there was no proper basis for CDM proceedings.
c. The judgement that there was no proper basis for CDM proceedings was reached on the grounds of the judicial findings in relation to the complaint – detailed at some length in her conclusions. It is factually wrong to say that conclusion was reached because the College has its own disciplinary proceedings.
This kind of reckless misrepresentation of the facts is reprehensible and needs to stop.
Peter you are getting your facts mixed. See above about the Christ Church tribunal. That’s a totally separate matter from the C of E CDM which Dame Sarah decided.
Rowland I don’t think that is the case but your defence of Percy in the face of injustice is sound.
I will leave your analysis to speak for itself in his defence which is so much needed
An Appeal Court Judge ruled there was no sexual content to the alleged hair stroking incident.
You should not be asserting that Percy was subject to a claim of sexual harassment – it is simply not true.
I said that she was an alleged victim. And Dame Sarah concluded that it was not overtly sexual, which is not the same as saying there was no sexual content. It is quite possible that Ms Jeune was merely seeking an admission of guilt and an apology, and, when that wasn’t forthcoming, triggered a formal complaint. Until the incident in the sacristy, she had been very much in the Percy camp, which may explain why she appeared to play down the incident, at least initially. Even so, she felt it was her duty as verger to report it immediately to… Read more »
Maud Colthwaite, I think water is trying to be pushed uphill here.
The hole which the Christ Church governing body has dug for itself is now so deep nobody can save it.
You are trying to dissect the unjust attempt by the Diocese of Oxford to make Percy’s position untenable in order to find somewhere in that sordid mess the grounds for smearing an innocent man.
Actually I was trying to dissect the unjust attempt to smear an innocent woman who disclosed an allegation of sexual harassment, in breach of protocol – nothing to do with the diocese.
Percy’s argument is with the Diocese and the Governing Body. Those who see the injustice he has suffered are indignant at the conduct of the Diocese and the Governing Body.
Tabloid journalists then put a particular spin on the details which has been rebutted by Cranmer.
It (Cranmer) made for a difficult read, but that is the fault of tabloid journalism
Nobody is smearing the complainant.
As a woman I also disliked the Archbishop Cranmer piece. (I ask nobody infers from that that I am expressing a view on Ms Jeune’s allegations because I am not doing so. I have a view but out of respect for both parties I don’t intend to share it.)
The ‘Archbishop Cranmer’ piece by Adrian Hilton is unsurprising and understandable – and a good example that the best form of defence is attack: “One might think, given Christ Church’s recent financial settlement (with both sides) and the questionable role the Bishop of Oxford has played in all this, that the Diocese’s Director of Communications, Steven Buckley, might have been keen to convey a cool and professional detachment. But instead he issued – on behalf of the Bishop – a partisan statement impugning Martyn Percy’s integrity even further, condemning his supporters as callous, and lauding Alannah Jeune’s account as definitive… Read more »
Don’t gaslight me – and others – by ignoring the thrust of my comment. Before the incident involving Ms Jeune, there was a whole series of dishonesty, disrespect and, frankly, Byzantine behaviour by people who took public vows to order their public and private lives by a different set of standards. Sorrow, repentance and regret are still entirely appropriate.
Why does the Oxford scandal matter? Similar could happen to any priest in the CofE. Dodgy lawyers and disreputable laundries have shown how easy it is to work alongside the structures of a dysfunctional diocese and malevolent college to assist in the design and production of the giant carcrash that has happened in Oxford diocese. And the CofE must now add ‘weaponized safeguarding’ to its list of forms of abuse. A judicial inquiry is required. Nothing less will disinfect Oxford malfeasance (diocese, cathedral, college, lawyers, laundries) with the sunlight of scrutiny. Whatever this is … it does not look like… Read more »
I assume you are the compiler of the forensic rebuttal with the link which is much needed and helpful.
A minor technical point – I only clicked on the link in your post by accident.
The rebuttal needs to be widely seen, so probably worth a clear signpost
No I’m not the compiler.
Yes, it does need to be seen widely. Several people have tweeted it. Interesting to see who has *liked* it.
https://twitter.com/seaofcomplicity/status/1531615460772687872?t=5VBucsFl0kG456XLpZmT-Q&s=19
As mentioned above, I have provided a more accessible link on the face of this TA article.
Gilo, thank you for sharing the document in the link. Who has produced this?
turbulentpriest.net
“A group of Martyn’s friends and supporters have gathered forces to create this website…”
Thanks this factual rebuttal clarifies the situation extremely well.
The section on the tenure (long over 5 years) of the Secretary of the Salaries Board is quite shocking and I can only hope the Charities Commission become aware of that.
That link is now broken. However a link to another copy of the material is now on the face of this TA article.
When giving evidence during the IICSA hearings, the current Bishop of Chichester quoted Caroline Boddington’s description of the Diocese of Chichester to him (prior to his appointment) as a ‘basket case.’ Surely, that acolade must now pass to the Diocese of Oxford. And, yes, Gilo is right in my opinion. Instead of colluding with the whitewash of a enquiry by the NST, the Archbishop of Canterbury should put the Diocese of Oxford into visitation and Steven Croft should be the subject of capability procedures. Similarly, the Crown should initiate a visitation of Christ Church. At least four of the Cathedral… Read more »
That would be a very transparent solution to a very serious situation, Paul. I would support that. However transparency seems absent in much of the Church of England, especially in such areas.
The General Synod have the power to make that happen – but whether they exercise that power is quite another matter.
Some good ideas, but a more immediate one is that the Church of England should have nothing to do with the appointment of any successor to Percy until, at the least, the governance review has concluded.
The Church of England (not of course a legal entity) has no power that I am aware of to prevent the appointment of the Dean of Christ Church. If it chose to have nothing to do with the appointment (by informing the Governing Body that it wouldn’t participate in any consultation) no-one would be more delighted than the Students. Of course the Crown might have a view, and it is doubtful the process could unfold in that way. Of more practical application, no even half decent candidate would entertain being appointed to an unreformed institution. If it were me, I… Read more »
I would recommend that people following this story read the clear unambiguous refutations of the Dons self justification for spending £6m of charity money on their failed coup. It is fully particularised here. https://www.turbulentpriest.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Refutations-461155.pdf One important point is that the College and Diocese have made allegations against “ friends of the Dean” of presenting untruths or making attacks. They have been challenged to set out plainly and specifically what these slurs are intended to convey. They have been asked to state who, when, where, and how. To date no justification for these accusations has been offered. Readers may have noticed… Read more »