Unite's Rachael Maskell warns Church of England on bullying: "The more they try to bury it, the more pain there will be"

Unite National Officer Rachael Maskell has warned the Chucrh of England not to bury the issue of bullying and harrasment of its clergy.

She says that a bishop is among the 150 clergy and ministers who have sought help Unite from what she describes as a culture of bullying in the established Church.

Most of those who have sought Unite help are in the Church of England but Roman Catholic priests, rabbis and imams have also joined Unite, said Rachael.

Unite has set up a special helpline for priests intimidated by bishops or congregations.

Among the 2,500 members of the faith workers’ branch of Unite are four bishops, including one “very prominent” Church of England bishop and one from the Church in Wales.


Unite was asked recently to help one bishop after he was ordered to return his licence and “go” for reasons that it did not disclose.

Criminality was not alleged, but Unite says that there should be due process rather than a wall of silence.

Rachael said “Church of England bishops are in denial about all sorts of things that go on. Sexual harassment of women clergy is not rare; it is out there".

She compared it to the problem of child abuse in the Roman Catholic church, which was shaken last month by the resignation of four out of five Irish bishops after the Murphy Report into the Dublin archdiocese exposed a cover-up.

“The more they try to bury it, the more pain there will be,” Rachael said. She warned that clergy who dared to raise the issue risked being put on a “black list” that would make it difficult to find work in future.

Last month Unite called for the resignation of two bishops after claiming that a vicar, the Rev Mark Sharpe, had been forced out of his home and job in the Worcester diocese by what the union described as “a culture of neglect and bullying”. His departure with his family came after four years of alleged harassment, during which the family’s pet dog was fatally poisoned, faeces was smeared on his car and his tyres were slashed twice.

Mr Sharpe, 42, has an employment tribunal listed for May when he will claim damages from the Church of England for failing to provide protection from harassment. He is now planning to sue for constructive dismissal as well after he resigned his living due to ill health.