Vicar warned after he walked in on parishioner in shower ‘but did not leave’
Vicar warned after he walked in on parishioner in shower ‘but did not leave’
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A vicar who tried to help a parishioner have a more relaxed approach to nudity has been given a dressing down after he walked in on someone in the shower. In one incident, the Reverend Henry Curran, 48, went into the bathroom to find a member of his congregation in the nude, ‘but did not leave’, a Church of England disciplinary tribunal has heard.
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A female parishioner described having ‘conversations about nudity’ with the priest, but insisted she never felt as if she was expected to be naked in front of him. Eight different misconduct allegations were investigated, all of which took place between 2009 and 2021 when he was working at St Mary’s Wollaton Park, Nottingham, next door to the University of Nottingham.
The tribunal found Reverend Curran had displayed coercive and controlling behaviour, an unacceptable lack of self-control and failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries. But it decided it was not necessary to sack the married reverend, and instead ordered him to complete a course of counselling and training on ethics.
The reverend, who became an ordained priest in 2003, went on a family holiday to the Lake District in April 2016 and a member of his congregation came with them, the tribunal heard. At some point during the holiday, Reverend Curran walked into the bathroom to get something he had forgotten.
