St Davids chooses successor to 'never trust a Tory' bishop

St Davids Cathedral will be closed as a new bishop is nominated

An election has started to appoint a successor to the bishop who tweeted that people should "Never, never, never trust a Tory".

The new Bishop of St Davids will succeed Joanna Penberthy who resigned in May 2023 because of ill health.

She was in the post for six years and had to apologise after the tweet.

At the time, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives said her comments would be "troubling" to many parishioners.

Members of the diocese have called for the new bishop to "put to the diocese back together" after the "divisive" comments.

In a report prepared for the electoral college, members of the diocese said that both clergy and ordinary members of the church had experienced "fatigue and low morale."

The Venerable Eileen Davies, Archdeacon of Cardigan, admitted that the new bishop faced a significant challenge.

• Bishop apologises for 'never trust a Tory' tweet

• Ten things to know about the patron saint of Wales

"It's going to be a massive role for the next bishop, whoever that person will be, in bringing people from all walks of life together, and from every gender.

"We need to get out to our people and talk to them, and to have people warmly welcomed into our churches."

The Venerable Eileen Davies said the new bishop faced significant challenges

Dr Joanna Penberthy was the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in the Church in Wales in January 2017.

But she has been absent from work for periods over the past two years because of ill health.

In March 2021, she caused a storm after tweeting that people should "Never, never, never trust a Tory" following allegations the Welsh Conservatives wanted to abolish the Senedd.

Archbishop Andy John addresses the electoral college

She later apologised saying she had "expressed... in a way which was both irresponsible and disrespectful and I deeply regret this".

Her Twitter account was then deleted.

The Archbishop of Canterbury said he was "deeply embarrassed" by Dr Penberthy's comments, which he described as "unacceptable."

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies, described the message as "troubling to many of her parishioners in west Wales".

Members of the diocese called for the next bishop to be "politically astute without holding a partisan agenda of their own".

It is also suggested the new bishop will have to deal with many churches and "dwindling and ageing congregations".

The doors of St Davids Cathedral were locked at 11:00 BST by the Dean's Verger, Chris Crooks, so the process of electing a new bishop could begin.

A college of 47 people representing churches from across Wales met inside to nominate and vote on a confidential list of candidates for the next of bishop.

Any candidate receiving two-thirds of the votes of those present is declared bishop-elect.

Otherwise, the college returns to the nomination stage and the cycle starts again.

Once a decision is made the cathedral will re-open and the Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, will make the announcement at the west door.

The college has up to three days to make a decision. If it fails to elect anyone, the decision will pass to the Bench of Bishops.

The new bishop will be the 130th bishop of St Davids and will be consecrated at Bangor Cathedral, the seat of the current Archbishop of Wales.