About three dozen members of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, protested outside the church in the snow on February 26, bearing signs with slogans that included “We Support Kay Short,” “John Organ Must Resign,” and “We Deserve to Be Heard.”
They say they are standing against the unjust removal of the cathedral’s dean, the Very Rev. Catherine Short, last month by John Organ, the Bishop of Western Newfoundland. He also revoked her license to officiate, claiming that she has problems with anger management.
“We all got along famously with Dean Catherine,” vestry member Deborah Howe told the CBC. “We love her, and she has been awesome for our congregation and a great outreach worker.”
Howe said she was part of a contentious meeting with Organ just before Short’s dismissal, when the bishop told the vestry that “people had made complaints to him” about Short’s leadership, and alleged that the cathedral “had a toxic culture.”
“We were gobsmacked, because this was totally unknown to us,” she said.
When Organ announced Short’s removal during Sunday services at the cathedral on January 19, several parishioners stood up to challenge the bishop about the action and others walked out.
“I was proud of our congregation, who clapped when those people supported Dean Catherine against what the bishop had said,” said Glynda Seaborn, another member of the vestry.
In the weeks after the announcement, Seaborn said that the vestry made three separate efforts to ask the bishop to meet with the congregation, but received no response.
All nine vestry members resigned on February 14, and two days later Organ announced that the diocese’s archdeacon, the Ven. David Taylor, had been appointed as interim dean and rector.
“It came to light as the Anglican community in Western Newfoundland became aware of the turmoil that this had caused at the cathedral, other incidents came to light of a similar nature of interactions between clergy and the bishop, which really caused us to look at the bigger picture,” Seaborn said.
“We now needed to stand up for injustices that had happened prior to this.”
Organ issued this statement to the CBC: “I am, of course, saddened by the controversy that has arisen regarding Dean Short’s status in our diocese. I know that mediation options have been proposed to Dean Short for the purpose of achieving a resolution, but these have not proceeded to this point.
“I continue to hope that a mediation will occur soon. It is important that Dean Short’s concerns be addressed, and that we move toward a resolution for her well-being and for the well-being of our diocese.”
In a February 7 interview with The Telegram, Newfoundland’s major newspaper, Organ also said that difficulties between him and Short began shortly after she began in her position seven years ago, and he claimed that these had led to her making “angry and threatening social media posts.”
An unspecified November incident revealed what Organ described as Short’s “passive-aggressive leadership style and conflicts left unresolved.” He claims that he summoned her to a meeting to review church protocols on conflict resolution, and Short walked out of the meeting.
He said he would reinstate Short if she agreed to additional training in anger management and committed to following church protocols.
“The door is open,” he told The Telegram. It is my hope and prayer that Dean catherine will accept this window of opportunity to return as dean and rector, with a commitment to constructive conflict resolution.”
A spokesperson from the Anglican Church of Canada said that the acting primate, Archbishop Anne Germond, and the metropolitan of the province, Archbishop David Edwards, had no jurisdiction in the matter, but that they were “aware of the situation” and “available to provide pastoral care and support.”
Seaborn was clearly unimpressed. “The church has no mechanism in place that can step in if a bishop is not carrying out his duties. We’ve had a lot of shocks, but the fact [is] that no one would respond or come to us lay people to help us through a process that was causing such devastation and emotional trouble for the people we cared about.”
Organ has served as Bishop of Western Newfoundland since 2018. The diocese is one of the three in the large but sparsely populated Northeastern Canadian province.
The Rev. Mark Michael is editor-in-chief of The Living Church. An Episcopal priest, he has reported widely on global Anglicanism, and also writes about church history, liturgy, and pastoral ministry.
