A
brief statement from the church last night said the person elected “has
understandably asked for time to consider this and a further
announcement will be made as soon as possible”.
The
Archdeacon of Meath and Kildare, Leslie Stevenson, was elected to the
position last January. He was to be consecrated Bishop last May but
shortly beforehand announced he was declining the appointment.
Last February it was reported that the
Archdeacon, whose first marriage ended in divorce, had a relationship
with a woman parishioner in the 1990s while rector at Donaghadee, Co
Down.
Following revelations about the affair he resigned from the parish in 1999 and undertook a period “of personal discipline”.
He was subsequently appointed rector of Portarlington in Co Laois and Archdeacon of Meath and Kildare diocese in 2009.