Rachel Treweek must have enjoyed the sweet smell of success when she was promoted to one of the ailing Church of England's top jobs, and became Bishop of Gloucester. She may not have realized that the troubled diocese labors under an ancient curse.
The curse is believed to go back to the seventeenth century, when Dean Laud aroused Puritan outrage by setting up altar rails in the cathedral.
Recent victims of the curse include former Bishop of Gloucester, Peter Ball, who was recently given a 32 month jail sentence for sexually abusing 18 young men between 1977 and 1992.
Michael Perham, Bishop of Gloucester from 2004 to 2014, was also investigated for sexual abuse and retired from the poisoned See. He was later acquitted.
Now the curse appears to be claiming another victim. Within months of becoming Bishop of Gloucester, Rachel Treweek began receiving rotten meat and hate mail, following her plans to build 350 new homes on church land in an idyllic Cotswold village.
The development project, which stands to raise £3million for the cursed diocese, has been attacked by Willersey residents, who believe it will wreck the unspoiled village. Church officials were heckled at a town hall meeting earlier this month.
Perhaps, for Rachel, as she unwraps her rotting food parcels, the pleasant odor of promotion might not smell so good.
Adult Weekly Attendance in the Diocese of Gloucester fell by 8.4% between 2003 and 2012.
LSP
