Now, the Bishop of Newcastle, the Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, has banned Lord Sentamu from ministry following a meeting with her in which he refused to apologise for his comments. He has been stripped of his Permission to Officiate (PTO), meaning that he cannot preach, celebrate communion or confirm, and cannot exercise any ministry duties. However, this only applies to the Diocese of Newcastle, where Lord Sentamu now lives after retiring to Berwick-upon-Tweed.

As a result, he could be invited elsewhere as a guest speaker, but he would have to ask permission from the presiding bishop there as a result of his ban.

'Statement has had a significant impact on survivors'

In a statement published on Thursday, Bishop Hartley said that following a meeting with Lord Sentamu earlier this week "my concern is that his public statement ... is inconsistent with the tone and culture I expect around safeguarding in Newcastle Diocese, and has had a significant impact on survivors and undermined public confidence".

She said that she asked him to reflect on his words, and the impact of them, and to offer an apology.

However, she added: "I am extremely disappointed that Lord Sentamu feels unable to make an apology at this time, and it is with sadness that I do not feel able to grant him my Permission to Officiate within the Diocese of Newcastle, or delegate authority to him. My door remains open, and the matter is in his hands."

The Bishop added that the current Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, is "fully supportive" of her decision "and continues himself to pray that a way forward may be found".

Lord Sentamu's comments came following the publication of an independent review which concluded that he failed to act on a disclosure of child sexual abuse carried out by a Church of England priest, Rev Trevor Devamanikkam, who took his own life while awaiting trial.

In response, Lord Sentamu rejected the reviewer's findings, insisting there had been a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the responsibilities of bishops and archbishops. He also issued a furious rebuttal of the findings and claimed the reviewer's stated opinion that individuals must act on safeguarding issues regardless of church law was "odd and troubling", adding: "Safeguarding is very important but it does not trump church law."

Days later, it emerged that he was stepping back from ministry as a result of both the findings of the review, and his response. The victim who reported the abuse, Rev Matthew Ineson, welcomed the news and described Lord Sentamu as an "arrogant bully" and called for him to be "barred from ever entering ministry again".

Rev Ineson, who was 16 at the time and went on to become a vicar and who has waived his right to anonymity, was sexually abused by the late Devamanikkam in the 1980s in Bradford, the independent review found.

Devamanikkam was charged with six serious sexual offences in May 2017, all relating to Rev Ineson, but he was found dead in his flat, having killed himself before he was due to appear in court.

Reports of abuse

A decade ago, Rev Ineson told some senior clergy members about his abuse. The review, commissioned by the Church of England's National Safeguarding Team (NST), said clergy, including Lord Sentamu, as well as another bishop, "failed to act on his disclosures". Rev Ineson said he reported the abuse in conversation with two bishops in 2012, and again to an archdeacon and a third bishop in 2013.

He then wrote letters to the Rt Rev Dr Steven Croft - who is now the Bishop of Oxford, but was the Bishop of Sheffield at the time - copying in Lord Sentamu, and claimed he had "suffered sexual abuse as a youth by a priest".

Bishop Croft has previously said he "could have done more" to support Rev Ineson in a letter following a review into the actions of Lord Sentamu.

Since waiving his right to anonymity, Rev Ineson has become one of the most outspoken critics of the Church of England over its shortcomings in dealing with cases of sexual abuse. He previously gave evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Responding to Lord Sentamu being stripped of his PTO, Andrew Graystone, an advocate for survivors of church abuse said: "The Church of England is on trial over whether it will accept external scrutiny of its safeguarding. The Bishop of Newcastle is right to insist that independent experts must be heard and their recommendations must be taken seriously. This is part of the culture change that the Church so desperately needs if it is to rebuild any credibility as a safe institution."

Rev Ineson added: "I applaud the actions of The Bishop of Newcastle and it is good to see someone in the church doing the right thing. Sentamu is a disgrace. Sadly this is the usual behaviour by most of the Church of England hierarchy."

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