Future of Catherine Short uncertain after hiring of new cathedral dean
Bishop of Western Newfoundland John Organ, whom the provincial metropolitan found violated misconduct policies when he fired a former cathedral dean, has hired a new dean and will resign effective Oct. 1.
Organ said in an Aug. 25 letter to the diocese that he had appointed the Rev. Kris Gosse as dean and rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Corner Brook, Nfld. In another letter Aug. 26, he announced he would be resigning Oct. 1, 2025.
Organ was originally scheduled to retire in September 2026 when he would be 70 years old, the mandatory retirement age for bishops, but by mid-June had told Archbishop David Edwards, metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Canada (which includes dioceses in the Atlantic Provinces and part of Quebec), that he would resign Oct. 1, 2025. Later that month, he appeared to reverse that decision.
The bishop was the subject of protests by the cathedral’s congregation after he announced in a livestreamed Jan. 19 worship service that he had fired the Rev. Catherine Short, who had served as dean and rector of St. John the Evangelist since 2018. Organ described personal conflicts with Short and accused her of making “threatening” social media posts, in addition to other allegations. The vestry subsequently resigned en masse in protest, congregation members called for Short’s reinstatement as dean and Organ’s resignation, and Short filed safe church complaints against Organ.
Edwards found in a June 13 response to Short’s complaints that Organ had engaged in discriminatory practice in relation to the dean’s employment status, as well as “emotional abuse” and bullying. Edwards called for Organ to re-instate Short’s license to practice ministry as dean and rector of St. John the Evangelist; to apologize to the dean, congregation and diocese; and to take sabbatical leave until his Oct. 1 resignation.
Organ responded by ignoring the metropolitan’s recommendations and said in a June 25 letter to the diocese that he would continue to serve as bishop until “a fair and proper investigation that reviews the original issue and leads to the appropriate provisions to address it under the canons.”
In his Aug. 26 resignation letter, Organ said the diocese had entered a “very divisive and difficult period” in January. “It was all very unfortunate and it did not need to be so angry and extreme as it became,” he said.
“The matter could have been quickly resolved amicably for all if there had been a willingness to do so. Much harm has been done and there will need to be a serious effort to investigate how anger and hate created so much pressure that objective processes were prevented and Christ’s command to love one another and speak the truth to each other in love went unheard and unheeded.”
In his letter to cathedral parishioners announcing the hiring of Gosse as dean effective immediately, Organ said he appointed Gosse “mindful of the unusual circumstances we are in and to prevent the risk of hostility to any member of our cathedral who might have a direct say in the appointment,” without elaborating further. Organ did not respond to interview requests from the Anglican Journal.
Provincial House of Bishops advised Organ to resign
Edwards said in an Aug. 26 statement that by resigning, Organ had acceded to the advice of the provincial House of Bishops to retire Oct. 1. He said he had accepted Organ’s resignation, “wishing him well in his retirement,” and that an election would be held “in due course” for a new bishop.
After Organ ignored the metropolitan’s recommendation in June, provincial misconduct and safe church officer Jack Walsworth—who carried out the investigation into Short’s complaints—told the Anglican Journal that Edwards and provincial chancellor David Bell would decide the final outcome. Walsworth said he personally supported using the ecclesiastical province of Canada’s Canon 5 to launch a disciplinary process against Organ.
Canon 5 stipulates that charges against diocesan bishops must be made by “three bishops of the province, or three priests licensed in, and three lay delegates to the synod of, the bishop’s diocese.”
In mid-August, Edwards held a meeting with bishops from the ecclesiastical province of Canada, except Organ. The Rev. Cynthia Haines Turner, co-chair of the diocese of Western Newfoundland’s synod executive, did not attend the meeting, but said it had been reported to her that the synod executive should see what role it might play in choosing the next cathedral dean.
Under the canons of the diocese of Western Newfoundland, however, the bishop alone is responsible for appointing deans.
“There’s actually no role for synod executive in choosing the new dean,” Haines Turner said, speaking to the Journal Aug. 24. “But it’s almost like a distraction to even, I think, suggest. How would the synod executive having a role in choosing a new dean address what has happened here?”
Haines Turner noted that metropolitans in the past within the Anglican Church of Canada have taken disciplinary action against bishops, who in their consecration swear obedience to the office of the metropolitan. The metropolitan also permits the implementation of the provincial safe church process. In responding to Short’s complaints against Organ, Haines Turner noted, Edwards upheld the conclusions of Walsworth’s investigation.
She found Edwards’ recommendations in response to Short’s complaint “fair and balanced and clear,” but said the metropolitan did not seem prepared to use his authority to enforce those recommendations. “What is the point of a safe church process which can’t do anything?” Haines Turner asked.
Asked to respond to criticisms that he had not enforced his findings on the Rev. Short’s safe church complaint and that neither he nor the provincial House of Bishops had acted quickly enough, Edwards replied, “I realize that there are people who are disappointed in how things have unfolded and the way they see my role in that. I understand, but I do not think that further comment by me is helpful to anyone at this time.”
Fired dean: ‘I am truly broken’
Short described Organ’s decision to resign immediately after hiring a new dean as “spiteful.” The former dean has applied for employment insurance, but her application was still pending at the time this article was written Aug. 27.
Archbishop Shane Parker, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said in July that he would provide pastoral assistance by acting as an intermediary between Organ and Short in their dispute after Organ ignored the metropolitan’s recommendations. While Parker “was very kind and compassionate” in this process, Short said, negotiations between her and Organ ultimately fell through.
On Aug. 1, Organ’s legal representative made a formal offer to Short to reinstate her license to practice ministry at St. John the Evangelist and to reappoint her to her former position as dean and rector retroactive to July 1—a document Short shared with the Anglican Journal.
However, the offer included two conditions: that Short “not participate in any public, or social media, publications with respect to the ongoing dispute or the resolution, unless mutually agreed”; and that she “request and encourage those who have engaged in the social media campaign [by Short’s supporters] to cease all further postings, and to commit themselves to healing so that the Cathedral parish can come back together and move forward in Christian spirit to which all have committed as members of the Church.”
Short responded on Aug. 5 by saying she could not accept the offer because she saw the requirement not to speak publicly about the matter, and to encourage her supporters to do the same, as tantamount to a non-disclosure agreement.
“I am taking this principled stand because [Organ] has caused irreparable damage to our diocese, has chosen to disregard the findings of a safe church investigation and has defiantly refused to accept the deliberations of our metropolitan,” Short said in her response. “Accepting his offer would be to deny this reality. Bishop Organ appears to believe that my reinstatement will make this scandalous situation go away.” She called on Organ to resign immediately.
Speaking to the Journal Aug. 19, Short said, “This has been such a roller coaster that I am truly broken at this point and never know what the next day will bring.”
After Organ announced his resignation, Short expressed hope that her conflict with Organ would spark discussions around canon law that outlines the bishop’s authority. “I sincerely hope that if nothing else, this has sparked affirmation that it really does need to be reviewed,” she said.
‘Such a long, troubled road’
Glynda Seaborn, a parishioner at St. John the Evangelist and member of the Facebook group Anglicans (and Others) for Accountability and Justice—which congregation members formed in response to Organ’s actions and which calls for institutional change within the Anglican Church of Canada, including greater transparency and accountability—welcomed the bishop’s resignation.
However, Seaborn said the fate of Short remains a pressing concern for the fired dean’s supporters and questioned whether Organ’s appointment of Gosse as the new dean would be considered valid.
“I think it’s a good thing he’s gone,” Seaborn said of Organ. “But I don’t think it will do much good for the cathedral congregation if there’s not some way of putting Dean Catherine back there. So we’re not jumping for joy yet.”
Seaborn said Organ’s actions and the Anglican Church of Canada’s response have shown there’s a lack of accountability in church structures.
“It’s been such a long, troubled road,” she said. “It is unbelievable that the church hierarchy could not have dealt with this within the eight months that we have suffered through the machinations that were going on and watching how Dean Catherine was obviously abused, as it was confirmed, by John Organ.
“There obviously most have been ways to resolve this long before now, and I think that’s what hurts.”
The Rev. Benjamin Crosby, a Ph.D. student in ecclesiastical history at the McGill University School of Religious Studies, also said the case of Organ and Short reveals structural weaknesses within the Anglican Church of Canada. In an Aug. 9 column for Anglican publication The Living Church, he described the situation as “the consequence of both an ill-designed disciplinary system and overtaxed institutions.”
The fact that Edwards made recommendations which Organ then refused to follow, Crosby told the Anglican Journal Aug. 26, “shows a dysfunctional disciplinary system. You should be able to follow your rules and you should have a system that can be followed as written, and the outcome of determinations in that system should be enforceable. Neither of those happened here.”
“I just don’t think we have a functional system in the Anglican Church of Canada in general for dealing with clergy misconduct,” he added.
Any potential reform, Crosby said, would revolve around two key questions: structure and process on one hand, and will on the other. As Edwards noted in his response to Short’s complaint, both the diocese of Western Newfoundland and the ecclesiastical province of Canada have their own distinct safe church and misconduct policies.
“There is a need for reform of disciplinary canon to end this confusing two-tier system and to get a little bit more uniformity across the church in how we deal with misconduct … I think that would’ve helped some of the problems here,” Crosby said.
“But ultimately, there also has to be the will on the part of the church hierarchy to hold people accountable. If that isn’t there, then having the best system in the world won’t solve the problem.”
