High-ranking lesbian bishop claims parishioners left church because she is a gay woman

"It's hard to hear some of the things that people say, but I think it's important that there is the space for them to say that," she explained.

"I don't want people to feel shut down or silenced just because I hold a different view."

She added: "We have to find a way as a Church to respect one another's views and find a commonality in our faith in Christ, despite our differences."

Rev Vann made history in July when she was elected by her fellow bishops with a two-thirds majority, becoming both the UK's first female Archbishop and the first openly gay Archbishop anywhere in the world.

She took over following the retirement of her predecessor, Andrew John, in the summer, and also serves as Bishop of Monmouth.

Her appointment drew sharp criticism from conservative quarters, with the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Gafcon) calling it "another painful nail in the coffin of Anglican orthodoxy."

Despite the backlash, Rev Vann says the overwhelming response from the Church in Wales has been positive.

"I had a lot of people contact me rejoicing at my election and saying how much hope and strength they get from the fact that there is now a woman in the role and a civilly partnered woman at that," she said.

"I've had the opposite as well. That's just life."

The 66-year-old Leicestershire-born Archbishop kept her sexuality hidden for decades as she worked her way through the ranks of the church.

She was among the first women ordained as priests in England back in 1994, and being female in the church proved challenging enough on its own.

"You can hide your sexuality, up to a point, but you can't hide being a woman. There was a lot of nastiness; the men were angry, they felt they had been betrayed," she recalled.

For years, she and her partner, Wendy Diamond, with whom she has been for 30 years, kept their relationship secret.

"I worried about waking up and finding myself outed on the front page of a newspaper," Rev Vann explained.

It wasn't until she became Bishop of Monmouth five years ago that she publicly disclosed her civil partnership for the first time.

Moving to Wales in 2020 marked a significant shift, as the Church in Wales permits clergy to be in same-sex civil partnerships, unlike the Church of England, where gay clergy are expected to remain celibate.

For her Christmas message, Rev Vann has chosen a passage from the Gospel of John about light emerging from darkness.

"Our message as Christians is that Jesus comes into all that difficulty and despair and brings the light of hope and love and joy, because of who he is," she said.

The Archbishop also faces the task of addressing cultural problems within the Church following her predecessor's departure amid a scandal involving safeguarding issues, excessive drinking and sexual misconduct at Bangor Cathedral.

"I think there is a big cultural issue in the Church," she acknowledged, adding that meaningful change takes time but she remains hopeful progress is already being made.

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