Bishop resigned after clergy criticised his move to bigger house, report finds

A ROMAN Catholic bishop resigned after a row over his move to a larger and more expensive house, a report found.

Bishop Robert Byrne stepped down from the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in December, stating his role had “become too great a burden to bear”. An official report into his resignation ordered by Archbishop Malcolm Mcmahon has found that the bishop, 66, made a series of “errors of judgment”.

The report found that when the bishop moved from a home in Newcastle’s West End to the leafy suburb of

Gosforth, which had been criticised by some in the diocese, he could have moved to a cheaper and less “conspicuous” location.

The report has been met with “utter dismay” by abuse survivors as it found he ignored warnings to stop associating with a convicted paedophile, Father

Timothy Gardner, who was a frequent visitor to Bishop Byrne’s house despite warnings from senior priests about Gardner’s conviction for abuse.

Bishop Byrne also appointed Canon Michael Mccoy to be dean of the cathedral despite safeguarding issues over his contact with older teenagers. Canon

Mccoy took his own life in 2021, days after police told him they were investigating him for allegations of historic sexual abuse.

Archbishop Mcmahon’s report called Canon Mccoy’s appointment an error of judgment but the inquiry found that previous media reports of lockdown sex parties in cathedral quarters, said to have been hosted by Canon Mccoy, were “simply untrue”.

He concluded: “In my view, he himself was unable to see a path forward, and his failure to see his part in these situations made clear his inability to cope with the demands of his role.”