Rev Riba-Thompson is being stripped of his job, his home, and banned from any ministerial activities for five years. Why? Because he fell in love, refused to disclose the sexual details — and a member of the public objected 🔎 Big Read by PatrickStrud
Because no sex had been disclosed in the hearing, the complaint centring on the relationship itself was dismissed in 2019 due to insufficient evidence. But because the Church of England doesn’t recognise same-sex marriage, it also doesn’t recognise same-sex infidelity anyway, so the diocese told Hollow they couldn’t sanction Riba-Thompson for that either.
Relieved at the case being dismissed, Riba-Thompson continued his work as a local vicar, which included supporting his elderly and vulnerable parishioners throughout the pandemic. He also continued his relationship with Oscar. But if Riba-Thompson had said during the first tribunal that they were having sex, “the penalties would have been devastating at the time”, he says. He believes this because of what happened next.
“I cut the process short,” he says. He applied for what’s called a “penalty by consent” where you concede that what is alleged is true, thereby stopping the tribunal. The bishop is then left to decide what that penalty should be. This admission had to be a signed confession. It began, “I, Geoffrey Peter Riba-Thompson, admit in full the allegation made against me…” and underneath was the accusation, that he had “lied about the timing and extent of a relationship he was having… the truth was that he was in a sexual relationship”.
What remains for Riba-Thompson, however, is “considerable anxiety” after years of fearing what the outcome might be. “There’s a great sense of injustice,” he says, at what he sees as the church’s overreaction to a personal matter despite two decades of dedicated ministry. “This has been badly handled by a bad process.”
“They are angry, they are confused, they cannot see who’s meant to benefit from this. They are aware that they are losing a priest who they appear to love and respect and value.”
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