Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP talks to Christopher Lamb

The Archbishop of Liverpool, Malcolm McMahon, took charge of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle following the resignation of Bishop Robert Byrne who stepped down due to serious failures of leadership in child protection. 

In this podcast, the archbishop speaks for the first time about the problems in the diocese, the changes he has sought to introduce and the importance of the synod process or better church governance. 

Among the questions for discussion at the synod summit in the Vatican in October is how bishops can exercise their ministry in a way that includes more voices, including women. Bishop Byrne was accused of failing to listen to the advice of his (female) safeguarding adviser, along with multiple failures of governance. 

“I think there was a fundamental problem about governance within the diocese. The authority within the diocese was really centred on a few priests who had several roles. There was no real distribution of authority within the church structures,” the archbishop told me. 

The archbishop apologised to all those affected by the problems in Hexham and Newcastle — which was the subject of numerous inquiries — saying the events in the diocese had been “very hurtful and painful for people.” He stressed, however, that measures had been taken to help heal the damage, including ensuring that the charitable trust which governs the diocese as a civil entity has an equal number of lay and clergy trustees. The diocese in the north of England, home to the northern saints that converted people to Christianity in the seventh and eighth centuries, is seeking to open a new chapter with the appointment of Stephen Wright as its new bishop. 

The Church’s Radical Reform podcast series is sponsored by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham in partnership with The Tablet. 

Producer: Silvia Sacco

Editor: Jamie Weston